Love Letters and Loathing
by Adrianna Sharp
Summary: Minako x Kunzite AU. Unknown to Minako and Kazuki, they are internet pen pals who are quickly falling for each other. In real life? They work together and completely despise each other. Rated for some inappropriate language.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a perfect day. The store was busier than Kazuki expected but he suspected that had to do with unseasonably warm October weather. He could just see the sun through the front windows and it seemed like everyone was out and about, enjoying the day. And fortunately, busier on the streets meant they were also busier in the store, which meant that Kazuki already sold a watch and two engagement rings.

The shop was called Crystal Tokyo. It sold a variety of jewelry and accessories for men and women and Kazuki had been there just over two years. While selling jewelry was never what he expected to be doing, he enjoyed it well enough. At least the hours were good and it paid well. That was the best he could hope for, for the time being. Unfortunately, conversations with his co-worker had a tendency to be a bit repetitive.

"But why not?" Sanyu asked.

Kazuki didn't even turn from where he was dusting. Give Sanyu an inch and he would take a mile. Instead, he tucked a lock of his long, pale hair behind his ear and answered from where he stood. "Because it's ludicrous. I don't date customers."

"If she was a cartoon she would have hearts in her eyes. If you invited her into the back room, she would have let you do anything to her."

Kazuki groaned. "I am never eating back there again."

"Get your mind out of the gutter. It's not like I've done that." He glanced in the reflective display and adjusted his copper blond ponytail.

"I don't believe that," Kazuki said. "Because I would believe anything of you. Now you've ruined the break room for me."

"Fine. Don't believe me," he said as he folded up his dusting cloth. He straightened the collar underneath his vest as if it was his most important piece of clothing. Well, Sanyu had a tendency to prize every new piece of clothing as the most important ever. He liked those odd combination of clothing that would look like an intentional mish mash. At least the young girls complimented him on it but it meant that Sanyu was always buying new clothes. It was always something new and strange whereas Kazuki always stuck with a classic, three piece suit.

As Sanyu walked over to the till, there was a telltale bounce in his step and Kazuki groaned again. He knew what it meant when he was that giddy.

"I don't need to hear about more of your sexual exploits."

Sanyu turned, his green eyes wide open. "How did you know?"

"You always get giddy like that. And before you 'build to a dramatic climax, pun intended'," he said with monotone air quotes, "I'm telling you right now I don't want to hear it."

"But it wasn't just once. It was twice! There was that gymnast. He lifted me like it was nothing. And then there was that girl in the six inch stilettos who works part time as a pole dancer-"

He raised his hand and Sanyu stopped mid-sentence. "I'm going to put you in a bio-hazard bubble if you keep talking."

"Well, sorry I'm not as boring and monogamous as you. Come out with me sometime. Maybe if you get laid, you wouldn't be so serious all the time."

"I would rather be single for the rest of my days than go out for a night out with you." He shot Sanyu an icy glare that left most people frozen.

Unfortunately, he was long oblivious to it. "You love working with me and you know it."

While that was true, Kazuki would never admit it. They had a good friendship, one that went to coffee shops and dinner but never to any kind of pub, club, disco, bar, or anything of the like. He could talk fairly freely with Sanyu. And he knew how to get him to stop when needed.

"I suppose if you continue like this, you won't get to read her letter."

"You got another one?"

Kazuki nodded and slipped a piece of paper out of his pocket. When Sanyu dived for it, he pulled it out of reach.

"Fine. I promise I'll behave."

Kazuki relinquished the paper and Sanyu unfolded it in his usual dramatic fashion.

 _Dear Kunzite,_

 _The sun was beautiful this morning. I couldn_ _'t resist going for a walk. It's amazing how invigorating fall is. I found myself thinking of you. This morning felt like a new beginning and it reminded me of when we first started e-mailing each other. It's a chance I'm glad I took. I love seeing your messages come through and they give me a tiny thrill. I think I'm going to take another chance today. It just feels like too good of a day not to. So I guess I'm saying thank you for reminding me that chances are worth taking._

 _Best wishes_

 _Venus_

Sanyu turned over the paper, expecting to find more. "This is what counts as titillating conversation? The weather? Come on! This is the best chance of a woman out there for you. When are you going to meet her already?"

Kazuki plucked the letter from Sanyu's fingers. "I don't. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"So far? Seventeen."

Fortunately, Kazuki was saved from any more pressing conversation when the door opened to reveal their boss, Mamoru and his wife, Usagi.

"Morning," Sanyu greeted.

"Sorry I'm late," Mamoru said. "Thank you both for opening up."

"No worries. We've been holding down the fort."

"I'll be right back Usako," Mamoru said. He pecked his wife on the cheek and dashed into his office, juggling a pile of mail."

Even in the morning with a newborn, Usagi could somehow shine happiness. She bounced the bundle in her arms and tried to soothe the gentle cries that could turn into a full meltdown at any moment.

"So," Kazuki said, "how's the new mother?"

"Great," she replied with her smile only showing a tiny strain. "And not that new. She's four months now. I think I'm getting the hang of this."

Sanyu glanced over and pointed down. "You have a sock stuck to your hip."

Blushing slightly, she grabbed the sock from her dress and shoved it in her diaper bag.

Kazuki couldn't help but chuckle. It was Usagi. She could be so easily embarrassed, even back in their college days.

The three had met way back in college. Usagi and Mamoru were already engaged at the time and Kazuki couldn't have asked for better friends. Mamoru and Kazuki were both studying business but Usagi was learning about the ins and outs of teaching kindergarten.

Then, when Kazuki had been desperate for a job, Mamoru offered him one, no questions asked.

"So how are things going, really?" Kazuki said.

"Good. Just needed some fresh air so we thought we would walk Mamochan to work." She said it half to him, half to Chibiusa.

Kazuki raised his eyebrow. "You needed someone to talk to, didn't you?"

Usagi looked down at her daughter, embarrassed at being caught out. "She's amazing. But it's not like she can talk back yet. It's so quiet in the house. I'm not used to so much quiet. I'm used to twenty kids running around trying to kill each other."

"So then this should be easy for you."

She stuck out her tongue. "Say that when you become a parent. And it may be a bit boring but," she looked back down at her daughter with her large red eyes and tiny tuft of cotton candy hair and smiled. "She is pretty amazing to be with."

"And she likes her Uncle Sanyu the best," Sanyu said, appearing from nowhere. He booped Chibiusa's nose, who promptly grabbed his finger and put it in her mouth. "See? That's proof right there if I ever saw it."

Mamoru emerged from his office and smiled wide at the two girls before him. "Well, I have some phone calls to make. I'll see you at home." He kissed Usagi and then Chibiusa and then Usagi again before he finally let them leave.

He turned around once his wife and daughter were out of sight. His eyes flicked from the display cabinet back up to Kazuki. "So I see you still haven't sold it,"

He let out a breath. "No. I haven't. But I still have two more days."

"But you've already had five. Two more days hardly seems needed if you haven't sold it by now."

He smirked. "I'm going to win that bet and then treat myself out to dinner with my winnings."

Mamoru smiled in mocking condescension. "Sure you will."

Mamoru disappeared back into his office and Kazuki glanced back down at the display case. It probably was a stupid bet to prove that he could sell a watch with so much...bedazzlement. But he knew he could and frankly, he wanted to win that bet. But he would feel a bit sorry for the sap who ended up buying it.

As Mamoru disappeared, two young women walked in. Sanyu swept in and turned the charm up to eleven. It was fine. He always did well with the late teenagers and the old ladies. The teenagers thought he was cool and stylish (though Kazuki never saw that), and the older women thought Sanyu was just such a dear. Kazuki's specialty, however, was the more mature woman. Women in the 22-50 year old range always seemed to look at him with admiration and a bit of intimidation, which somehow made him even more appealing to them.

Speaking of which, that was when another woman walked in. He hazarded to say that she was probably in her mid-twenties. She was wearing a professional black dress, an understated silver pendant and matching earrings. Her hair was long and blonde and was swept into a sleek ponytail. She looked professional and elegant and seemed to know exactly how to put herself together properly.

He walked to her in his usual confident manner. "Good afternoon miss. Welcome to Crystal Tokyo. What can I help you with today?"

She glanced around, hardly paying any attention to Kazuki. "I'm actually looking for Mr. Chiba."

"He's currently occupied but I would be happy to help you out. What are you looking for? A necklace? Earrings? A watch for a male friend?" He made sure to glance over her jewelry before saying, "I must say you have exquisite taste."

He waited for the inevitable blush but she didn't seem to even hear him. "No, no. Nothing like that."

His usual tactics failing, he found his patience to be dimming. "Then may I ask what you are here for?"

"I would prefer to speak to Mr. Chiba about it."

He tried not to show his annoyance as he spoke. "As I said, he is currently occupied but I would be more than happy to assist you." He reigned himself in and only hoped that she wouldn't be another rich trophy wife trying to flirt with Mamoru.

"How long will he be?"

Clearly seeing that he was getting nowhere, he clenched his teeth. "I'll have to check. Your name?"

"Minako Aino. And thank you."

As he walked away, he glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She clutched her purse rather tightly and...did she look nervous?

He heard Mamoru's apologetic voice before he saw him. He was on the phone with a customer so loud that Kazuki could hear the voice from where he stood. It sounded like a botched order. That could take a while.

He walked back to the girl, Minako, who was staring intently at the display cases, almost as if she was appraising them. But as soon as he approached, her focus was wholly on him. He took on his most apologetic face. "I'm sorry Miss Aino but he could be some time."

"I can wait," she said, almost too quickly.

Kazuki was taken aback. "Very well."

He expected her to turn, to walk away to another display but she stood rooted to the spot.

"This is a beautiful store," she said.

"Yes, it is," Kazuki replied. He was getting more confused with every moment.

"It's quite large for the area. It must get quite busy here."

Well, if she could be vague, so could he. "We do what we can."

"You must fall behind sometimes with the staff you have."

That was when it clicked. The professional dress, the interest in the store, the insistence to only speak to the owner. "Miss Aino, are you looking for a job?"

Her eyes widened as if she just realized she gave too much away but she quickly recovered and went for it. "I have excellent references. I've worked at OSA-P for years but now that they're closing-"

"Miss Aino," he interrupted, holding up a hand to silence her, "I appreciate your tenacity but we aren't hiring at the moment."

"I would still like to speak to Mr. Chiba about it."

He did have to admire her resolve and he felt a pang of sympathy for her. Her blue eyes were determined and he knew first-hand what she was going through. His arm fell. "You're welcome to wait but he will tell you the same thing I have. I would hate for you to waste your time."

"It's quite alright. I don't mind waiting."

"Really, there's nothing we can do."

"Nothing we can do?" Kazuki froze at the sound of Mamoru's voice. "What can't we do?"

"No, it's not like that," Kazuki began.

But Mamoru wasn't paying attention. He was looking at the blonde in front of him. "What can we do for you Miss…"

"Aino. Minako Aino." She took a deep breath as if recalling a memorized speech. "Mr. Chiba, your store is fantastic, truly an institution in the neighbourhood. It is a pillar of strength and stability and exquisite taste and I would be honoured to work here." With her last words, she held out her resume, which she must have had hidden in her purse. "I have extensive experience in the industry and I think I would be a huge help to you."

Mamoru, clearly taken aback, stumbled a bit over his words. "That's...very commendable on your initiative but we're not looking for any new employees."

"But surely you must-"

"I'm sorry. My answer is final."

She hung her head and noticed that Kazuki already drifted away to help an older gentleman. And she could tell that there wouldn't be any budging on Mamoru.

"Alright," she said, her shoulders hunching slightly in defeat. "Thank you for your time."

She walked away and passed by Kazuki and the older man. He was probably in his sixties with greying at his temples and a pinstripe suit that she could tell cost more than she made last year. Kazuki was showing him a rather gaudy, no doubt expensive watch but the man didn't seem to be biting. Then, in a moment that was either genius or insanity, she stopped by them.

"That watch," she fawned, "is beautiful."

The man turned to her, surprise across his face at the intrusion, but relaxed when he saw her beauty. "You think so?"

She mentally cheered. She recognized that look he gave her. She saw it with a lot of men who were getting to be a bit insecure about their age.

"Absolutely," she continued. "That watch really says that you're someone important." She took a moment to look over his suit before continuing. "Most people can't tell the difference between a good suit and a great suit but a watch like that shows the world that you're successful."

The man glanced down at the watch, at Minako (who fluttered her eyelashes for good measure), then back at the watch. Finally, he looked up at Kazuki. "I'll take it."

Kazuki appeared a bit shell shocked but Minako was beaming. "You won't regret it, sir."

He recovered quickly and gestured toward the till. "Very well sir. Excellent choice. If you would just follow me, we'll finalize the sale for you."

As the two men walked away, she saw that Mamoru had seen the whole thing and was regarding her with thoughtful eyes. He stepped towards her and gestured for her to follow.

"A word please, Miss Aino."

She forced herself to stay calm and followed him into his office. It was small but comfortable with well-organized papers, a corner with security camera screens that were turned off, and a moderately ornate desk. He gestured toward the chair opposite him and studied her again.

"That watch cost 5,000,000 yen. Kazuki has been trying to sell it all week and you sold it in under a minute."

"The owners at OSA-P always did say I was a fantastic with sales."

Mamoru cupped his chin. "You know, I think we might be able to find a spot here for you after all."


	2. Chapter 2

Wow. This story has already gotten a much better response than I expected. Thank you so much to Cluckster, Miyake Kou, and kmoonprincess for such lovely words of praise and encouragement. You are fantastic!

In other news, I have decided that my updating schedule is going to be Wednesdays and Sundays so keep an eye out on those days for updates. Without further ado, here's chapter 2.

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Chapter 2

"I hate her." Kazuki clutched his temple as if his hatred caused him physical pain. "I hate her so much."

"You do not," Sanyu said, rolling his eyes. "You're just upset because she made you lose your bet with Mamoru."

Sanyu smirked as he swirled his latte. Several weeks passed since Minako's dramatic entrance into their lives and it was clear that she was getting under Kazuki's skin. But then, he wasn't exactly pleasant to her either. Not that Kazuki would admit to that.

He shot Sanyu a glare. "Do you really think I'm that petty?"

"Sometimes." He said it grinning, as if recalling a funny story.

"Well I hate to burst your bubble but it's more than that."

And so he launched into all of the reasons he found to dislike her. Sanyu heard quite a few of these rants over their morning coffees to the point where he could predict what he would say next.

"And she-"

"She's been late twice," he interrupted. "Don't look so surprised. You complain about the same things about her every time. "Next you'll say that she flirts too much with customers."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow in his practically trademark manner and took a sip of his black coffee. "I don't talk about her that much."

"Please," he said, waving his hand. "If you were nine years old, you'd be tugging her pigtails and pushing her into the mud, which only leads me to one conclusion. You like her."

"I do not."

"You do. And you're making all this racket to cover up your true feelings. No need to be ashamed. She is gorgeous. If I didn't work with her, I would have already made a pass at her."

"You actually have boundaries?"

"Of course. There are three types I will never go for." He counted them off on his fingers as he went. "Coworkers, people in a committed relationship, and immediate family members of my friends. Cousins are fair game though."

"Hm. Longer than I would have expected."

Sanyu balled up his napkin and threw it at him. Unfortunately, its flimsiness resulted in it only traveling halfway across the table. "You should give me more credit. Just because I enjoy sex, that doesn't mean I'll do it with anyone that moves." Kazuki raised an eyebrow again. "I just happen to have a wide palette. Forgive me that I don't choose the celibate life like you."

"Is that what you think of me?" he asked, an almost sarcastic tone to his voice.

"Please. You go home, you read, you write to Venus. That is the most advanced relationship you have with a woman and it's over a computer. You definitely jerk yourself to sleep."

Whatever rise Sanyu was hoping to get out of him failed. Instead, Kazuki took his last sip of coffee, stood up, and walked out.

"Oh come on," Sanyu called after him. "Don't be that way. I was only joking." He followed him out, pulling on his jacket as he did so.

He caught up with him on the street and tried to get his attention again. Kazuki mentally smiled at it. Ignoring him was the best way to get him to change topics. If he had stayed to defend his honour, Sanyu would have only taken it as his own version of things being the truth.

Fortunately, the two were forced back onto the same page when they walked around the corner and saw someone standing outside the store. Even from a hundred feet away, there was no mistaking the designer coat, the tall heels and long red hair.

"Good morning Mio," Sanyu greeted as they approached.

He had his customer service smile on, but she didn't seem to notice. She looked at the two and then looked behind them as if she expected someone else.

"Where's Mamoru?" she asked. "Why isn't he here?"

"He's at home," Kazuki said. He spoke slowly, as if he was speaking to a child. "With his wife and child."

"Ah," she said, but it was clear that she wasn't listening properly. She waved a diamond clad hand dismissively. "I've been away in Europe. I can't possibly keep up with all these little things."

Having known Mamoru and Usagi for years, Kazuki took the comment a bit personally. "I wasn't aware that marriage and a child was a small thing."

She chose to ignore him and speak only to Sanyu. "Well, I have a very important design I'd like to speak with only him about."

"Well then, that changes things," Kazuki said, cutting in again. His tone became strangely cheery. Too cheery, too accommodating, it was almost mocking. "I'll be sure to let him know the moment I see him."

Mio's lips pursed. "See that you do." And before another word could be said, she pivoted on her Louis Vuitton heel and walked away.

"Does she really think that she can lure Mamoru away from his marriage because she's rich and pretty?"

"Well," Kazuki began as he unlocked the doors, "it's been going on for almost two years so I don't think she's taken the hint. Mamoru should just refuse service to her."

"He's too nice for that. And she does spend a good chunk of money here. I say milk it."

"Only you would say that." Kazuki unbuttoned his thick wool jacket, tucked it away and turned on the register.

Sanyu, meanwhile, pulled the dust sheets off the displays. Under his breath he muttered, "3, 2, 1…"

"So how late will she be today?"

Right on time. "You say that like she's late all the time. And you already complained about her lateness this morning. Like I said, she's been late twice by less than two minutes."

"Late is still late."

The two finished readying the store for the day, going about their usual routine and chatting. Well, Sanyu talked this time. Kazuki tried to tune out his chatter about "the most amazing lay ever". Sanyu's latest sexual encounter was always described as the best one ever. Despite Kazuki insisting that he didn't want to hear about it, Sanyu still went on about it.

"She looked just like the star of the new action movie. What's her name?" he snapped his fingers, trying to recall. "Hiroko Miura. Wait, she did just say to call her Ko. Holy crap. Did I have sex with Hiroko Miura?"

"Well, you can contemplate that yourself because it's time to open."

Fortunately, when Kazuki opened the door, a couple of customers entered and Sanyu was shut down from talking any more about his possibly famous lay.

Minako came in two hours later, pulling her coat tighter around her. "It's freezing out there."

Kazuki, who had no customers at the moment, stared at her in astonishment. "It's barely November and you're already complaining about the cold?"

Minako didn't miss a beat. "That's right. I forgot. This weather is perfect for you. It matches your cold, cold heart."

Kazuki's hand clutched his chest in the mildest dramatics possible. He even spoke in a monotone voice. "That hurts me so much in my hollow, tin chest."

"Glad to see you finally admit it," she said, sweeping past him into the back room.

Kazuki inhaled deeply and let it all out in one breath. She came back out a minute later, rubbing her hands to warm them up.

"I suppose I should congratulate you," Kazuki said.

Minako's eyebrows pushed together. "For what?"

"You're actually on time today. We should have a feast to celebrate the occasion."

She took the few steps separating them and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Terrible idea, really. I would hate for you to lose your girlish figure."

Sanyu, who was dealing with a customer, coughed loud enough to get their attention and sent them both a pointed glare that said 'don't escalate your argument and screw up this sale for me. I need a new, pretty shirt to dazzle customers with.'

The two came to their senses. Despite their jabs at each other, they usually did try to keep it away from the customers. Instead, she pulled out a magazine and started flipping through.

Normally, Sanyu took some joy at their gentle ribbing at each other. He even had a bit of a mental tally going. Minako was ahead. But he only enjoyed that when they didn't have customers who were young enough to twist their rich daddy's finger and spend a ton of money.

When the girl did leave, with three expensive necklaces in tow, he turned to the other two.

"In the future, if you could hold your squabbles until customers leave, that would be appreciated," he said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

The two had the decency to look shamefaced but since all the customers were gone, it didn't last long.

"Well," Kazuki began, "maybe some of us should look a bit busier when customers are in the store."

Minako's eyes glanced up from the magazine. She paused before holding it up, showing the front cover. "I'm doing research, thank you very much. How do you think I keep up with the trends?"

With anyone else, Kazuki would have apologized and admitted that he was wrong. But not with Minako. Despite the fact that she was reading a magazine that had a focus on the up and coming styles and cuts of precious stones, Kazuki wouldn't back down.

"The customers don't know that."

Minako made solid eye contact with him as she turned to a new page. She spoke slowly, pausing momentarily between words. "Then I will put it away when customers come in."

Despite Sanyu's annoyance with the two of them, he couldn't help but mentally laugh. It was always amusing watching Kazuki be speechless and very few people could accomplish that. Minako could do it rather regularly, actually. He added another point in Minako's tally.

Kazuki finally recovered enough to say, "Well you can do that on your own time. If you're here, you should be cleaning."

"The display cases have been dusted three times this week. And it's only Tuesday."

"And December is only three weeks away. We should be ready if the Christmas shoppers decide to start early."

Minako rolled her eyes. "Fine."

oOo

Minako flicked on the lights to her apartment. With a sigh, she kicked off her shoes and took off her jacket. And gloves. And scarf. And sweater. The late November weather turned extra cold particularly quickly.

It was a long day. Well, it always was when she worked with Kazuki. Unfortunately he was the only blight on a job she really loved. Working with him could already put her in a bad mood. On top of that, he spent half the morning telling her what to do. He was bossy, and judgemental, and just…a jerk. Now, all she wanted to do was relax.

She flipped on the radio and danced a little as she heated up some leftovers. As she did so, her eyes drifted to her computer. Would he have written back already?

With a hopeful smile, she dashed to her computer and switched it on. It was an older model, it would take a few minutes to start up anyways.

When both her computer and her food were warm, she settled into her chair. As she waited for her email to load, she shoved three bites worth of food into her mouth in one go.

Then she tried not to spit it all back out when she realized how hot it was. She chewed carefully, swallowed, and almost choked on the last bit when she saw her email.

He responded!

She forced herself to finish the still large bite of food before opening it.

Venus,

I hope you 're staying warm with this winter chill that seems to have descended so quickly. Honestly, I never cared for this season very much but I'm sure you would find more beauty in this weather than I would.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Frankenstein and I agree with your point that solitude would have added to Victor's lack of sympathy.

Trust him to put something so much more eloquently than she could. If she remembered correctly, she said something more along the lines of Why did Victor shut himself away from everyone? Maybe if he had more people reminding him to not be such an idiot, he would have had some damn sympathy.

He had been introducing her to the world of classic western literature. He mentioned before that he attended school in England for several years so his knowledge of European literature was excellent and he started recommending books for her. Then she started recommending ones to him, although she felt like she had less to contribute.

Your reactions to it have already given me some ideas about what you should read next. And now, I do believe, it is your turn to recommend something to me. I look forward to it.

Kunzite

Minako hugged her knees to her chest and smiled. There was a warm glow in her belly and she was already bouncing some ideas for what book she should recommend. His emails always had that effect on her, no matter how many the two sent between each other.

As she contemplated, however, the phone rang. Minako jumped out of her happy bubble to answer it.

"Minako, it's me," a familiar voice responded.

"Makoto? What's up?"

She heard a chuckle on the other line before Makoto spoke again. "I'm downstairs with the girls. It's movie night. Or did you forget?"

"Crap. I did. Stressful day. I'll explain when you come up." She pushed 9 to let them in and hung up.

She glanced over her living room. It was a little messy but nothing they would mind.

Then she noticed her computer.

"Crap!"

She dove toward it and closed off her email just as the girls entered.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed about her conversations with Kunzite. She just knew what would happen if she told them. Rei would think the whole thing was silly, Ami would lecture her on safety, and Makoto would start giving her advice. She felt guilty keeping it a secret but she wasn't ready to tell them. Besides, they never gave each other specifics about themselves so it wasn't as if there was any danger. And she didn't want to deal with their advice. For now, it was just something nice that she had for herself. And it was just talking. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't like they were dating or anything.

But then she remembered how happy she was whenever she opened one of his emails. They only started talking out of pure chance and they both seemed to enjoy it. Could something more come of it?

She shook her head. Those were questions to ask later. Rei was already waving her over to sit down, Ami was sliding the movie in, and Makoto was putting together a plate of her own creations for Minako.

Right now was girl's night. She could worry about Kunzite later.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback I've gotten so far. All the alerts and favourites notifications I get make me smile. And a special thank you to TropicalRemix for the review. Don't worry, tropical. Just need to lay the groundwork first.

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Chapter 3

December dawned cold and cloudy but the streets were noticeably busier than the day before. It was as if the first of December reminded Tokyo's populace of the coming of Christmas and lit a fire under everyone to start their shopping. As Kazuki and Sanyu prepped the store, they could already see a few people gathered outside waiting for the doors to open.

"Come on," Sanyu pleaded. "Why won't you tell me what Venus wrote to you?"

Kazuki turned the register on and opened the POS. "Because you always find a way to mock me or her."

"What if I promise to be good?"

"You've promised that 27 times."

"And this time I mean it," Sanyu said, crossing his heart.

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because I want to live vicariously through you. Even if that life is monogamous and boring as fuck," he said with a devilish grin.

"You're a good friend, you know that?"

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Don't look so shocked. Apparently it's the only way to shut you up."

"Does that mean you'll tell me about Venus' messages?"

Kazuki walked over to the door and unlocked the latch. "No."

Any further comments Sanyu had disappeared as the customers entered. It was a slow and steady pace for the morning, which Kazuki was grateful for. Sanyu didn't even have the opportunity to pester him about his love life.

Minako showed up a few hours later, which in Kazuki's opinion, turned out well. It was too busy for the two of them to get on each other's nerves. Then, in the afternoon, Mamoru showed up.

Kazuki turned to him, puzzled. "Isn't today your day off?" he asked as Mamoru slid behind the counter.

"I thought I would just swing by to check on how things are going but I saw how busy it is. It is the start of the Christmas season, after all. I don't think I'll have a day off until January. And Usako has things well in hand at home. By the way, she's going to be working here a few days a week starting Monday. I have a feeling this year is going to be busier than the last few."

"Good idea. Usagi will be a welcome addition. And it seems like the economy is finally turning around for the better."

Mamoru smiled. "Let's hope." His eyes glanced down. "You have dust on your sleeve."

"I'll fix it in January," he said smiling as he brushed it off. "Maybe I'll have some time then."

oOo

"So do you have a handle on things now?" Minako asked.

Usagi scrunched her nose at the till. "I think so."

While Minako didn't know Usagi well, the girl seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeve. "What don't you get?"

"I don't get how to add in the sizing details."

Minako reached across her and pushed two buttons in succession. "Like that."

Usagi watched in excitement when a pop up screen appeared and Minako demonstrated how to record the necessary details.

"Thank you Minako. I've never been good with technology. Video games are fine but this…" she scrunched her nose again, "is just confusing. I'll take a room of five year olds any day." When Minako raised her eyebrows, Usagi elaborated. "I'm a kindergarten teacher."

Minako's eyes widened slightly. While she couldn't imagine the pigtailed woman as a disciplinarian, a kindergarten teacher seemed to fit her perfectly. She was basically a ray of sunshine and was perfect to work with kids.

She knew Usagi a bit before she started working. Usagi popped in a few times a week to check in on Mamoru or to walk him to or from work. It was sweet. They talked a little bit in those times but they never had a proper conversation until she started at the store.

"So, do you miss Chibiusa yet?"

Usagi glanced down, a little embarrassed when she said, "A little. Is that weird? I mean, I'm with her all the time. A couple of days a week won't make a huge difference, will it? And it's nice to get out and have some adult conversation."

There was something about Usagi. Somehow she already sneaked past Minako's guard. Maybe that was why she said, "You know, my friends and I have movie nights every other week. You're welcome to come too if you want."

Usagi smiled brightly. "That would be amazing! It's been kind of hard to be social the last few months. I usually end up falling asleep around 8:00."

"That's fine. Ami likes to read during the movie anyways. Rei usually picks apart the plot. And Makoto is usually too busy making sure everyone has enough food. In fact, I don't think we watch that much of the movie anyways."

She smiled even wider. "There's lots of food?"

oOo

The next week was actually rather enjoyable. The store was getting steadily busier and having Usagi there was a welcome addition. Hearing her voice in the air instantly put Kazuki in a better mood. It even made working with Minako more tolerable.

Mamoru was at the store every day now but Kazuki noticed that he spent more and more time in his office. Well, he supposed with the addition of Usagi to the staff, he wasn't really needed and it would be rather crowded having so much staff on.

"Kazuki, did you hear me?" Usagi said.

Kazuki snapped out of his sales pitch with a rather difficult customer when he heard Usagi's voice near him. She was standing just a few feet away, at the register. Her face was scrunched up as she stared at the screen.

"Usagi, what is it?"

"It's the register. It's freezing on me. How do I fix it?"

Kazuki excused himself for a moment and stepped next to Usagi.

"It's because you have the ordering system open," he said, pointing to the screen. "The system won't let you ring in any purchases if it's open at the same time."

Usagi narrowed her eyes at the screen, closed the ordering system, and was ecstatic when the system obeyed her.

"Thank you Kazuki. I owe you."

"Think nothing of it," he said, smiling as he stepped back to his customer and apologized for his momentary absence. Unfortunately, the woman he was waiting on was being rather flippant about what she wanted and he internally groaned. Then, over her shoulder, he saw Minako waiting on a customer. She was batting her huge eyelashes and the man across from her was lapping it up. Working next to Usagi with her minor difficulties and an indecisive customer suddenly seemed more preferable to working next to Minako. At least he couldn't hear her from his side of the store.

He had to admit that she was good with sales, even if her methods were grating. But did these men really lap up every word she said?

"Do you think that's wise?" his customer asked. "The chain is already gold. Wouldn't a gold pendant be too much?"

Kazuki looked over her. She had thick blue eye shadow, a layered necklace with alternating gold and pearl layers, and wore a bright pink collared shirt. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

"Nonsense. There's no such thing as too much gold. And with your features, it would look absolutely stunning."

She blushed and ran the gold chain through her fingers. "You're right. We only live once."

"Excellent choice."

As he rung her up, he was thankful that at least Minako was tasteful in her appearance. She never wore anything gaudy. She was always classy. He always did appreciate that, though he would never say it.

It was just too bad that she was so frustrating in every other capacity.

oOo

The next week got even busier and with it, came the first snowfall. Minako and Kazuki barely even had time to make snips at each other. The only time anyone had time to make any kind of small talk was before opening or after closing. Fortunately the two of them were never scheduled to do either together. Mamoru seemed to know better than to leave the two of them alone. Instead, Minako found herself opening or closing with Usagi and Mamoru quite a bit, which was just fine with her.

"Did you have fun the other night?"

Usagi nodded emphatically. "It was so much fun. Everyone was so sweet. And Makoto's food is amazing!"

"If you thought that was amazing, just wait until she hosts movie night. She goes all out when she doesn't have to transport the food."

She could have sworn she saw a dribble of drool escape Usagi's mouth. Her suspicions were confirmed when Usagi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What movie is it next time?"

Minako shrugged. "Not sure yet. It's almost Christmas. Maybe a warm and fuzzy western movie?"

"That sounds nice." She paused as she flicked out a dust sheet over the display. "Any plans for Christmas?"

"Nothing much," she shrugged. She carefully pushed up the long sleeves on her dress and scrubbed at a stubborn spot on the opposite counter. "I'll go see my parents. How about you? It must be exciting to celebrate Chibiusa's first Christmas."

Usagi glowed. "It will be. I'm so excited. I bought a special elf outfit and she looks so precious in it. As long as she stops growing."

Despite the agonizingly busy day, her sore feet, and the desire to curl up on her couch, she smiled wide. Usagi's enthusiasm was infectious and she loved working with her.

She laughed. "I think you have a while before she stops growing."

Usagi rolled her eyes. "I know. It's terrible. Every time I buy her clothes, it feels like she grows out of them in a week. But then I get to buy her even cuter things." She perked up at the thought and it made Minako laugh again.

It was nice to work with another female too. Minako did enjoy working with Sanyu but after all of Kazuki's negativity and lack of emotion, Usagi seemed even more the ray of sunshine that she was. She hoped they could stay friends. Usagi seemed to fit perfectly into her life and Usagi welcomed Minako into her own.

That was when the idea came to her. She never did tell any of her friends about Kunzite. She thought they would judge her too harshly for it and bombard her. But Usagi seemed like she would never shoot down any possibility.

"Usagi," she began, getting her attention and Usagi turned. Her eyes were wide and welcoming and Minako felt her nervousness fade a bit. "Do you think it's possible to get to know someone without ever meeting them?"

Usagi tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

Minako craned her neck back to make sure that Mamoru's office door was still closed.

"It's just-I've been talking with someone online and-"

Usagi practically squealed with delight. "You met someone? A man? When? What's his name? How did you start talking?"

Minako laughed. She was right. Usagi certainly didn't seem to think the situation was strange.

Minako sprayed the display case and wiped as she spoke. "It started over the summertime. I was in this chatroom for singles in Tokyo and he caught my eye. We talked a bit and then we started emailing each other. But I don't really know that much about him. I don't even know his real name. I only know him as Kunzite." Minako put down her cloth and braced her hands on the counter, unconsciously undoing the work she just did. "I was thinking about asking him to meet. Is that weird?"

It was something Minako was mulling over for a few weeks now. Things with Kunzite were going so well and she wanted to see if they were compatible in person too. The idea had been pushing to get out. She needed someone to talk to about it.

"You should! You absolutely should."

"Really? Most people would say it was crazy to love someone they never met."

Usagi paused. "You love him?"

Hearing Usagi echo her own words made her realize what she said. She was caught off guard and stumbled over her next words. "I-I think I do," she said in amazement. But Usagi's enthusiasm towards the situation seemed to push Minako in the other direction. "But, that's crazy, isn't it? We've only written to each other. I don't know anything about him. Not really."

"Sometimes that doesn't matter," Usagi said. "Take me and Mamochan. I didn't have to know him long to know that I loved him."

Minako smiled and rolled her eyes. "That's because you two are way too adorable, especially for a married couple." Her smile faded before she spoke again. "But at least you knew him face to face. What if he has weird habits that I can't stand? What if he chews with his mouth open or he snores like an airplane? What if he lives in his parents' basement because he doesn't have a job?"

She would have continued but Usagi interrupted her. "Minako." She looked at her. Usagi was so calming and she couldn't help but slow her breathing down again. She didn't even realize her breathing sped up. "You've read his messages. Do you really think he's like that?"

Minako bit her lip. "No. I think he's genuine."

And she meant it. She knew he could have faked all those messages. He could have sat for hours doctoring them just to lure her in but she really didn't think so. His messages seemed so genuine.

A long pause continued and Minako found herself smiling. That was enough for Usagi to speak up again. She was practically bursting with excitement. "So, when are you going to meet him?"

"After Christmas," Minako said decidedly. "I'll message him after Christmas and see if he wants to meet me."

"He would be crazy not to," Usagi said, winking. "I'm gonna go check on Mamochan."

"Of course. Go," she said, waving her off with the cleaning cloth.

oOo

As Kazuki locked the doors to the store, he was glad he didn't have to fasten his jacket quite as tightly as the last few weeks. The intensity of winter seemed to be taking a bit of a break. It was nice. He didn't have to bow against the wind and the rain and the snow. He could walk casually and enjoy the snow topped buildings and trees.

He was walking past an alley when he heard a ruckus. He saw a few young boys, well, young by his standards, though they were probably about 14, seemed to be rough housing. He smiled at the joviality of youth and took another step.

Then he heard her voice. It was loud. And angrier than he ever heard it in the few months they had been working together.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Minako demanded to know.

Though the words weren't directed at him, he stopped in his tracks. He sidled up next to the edge of the alley. What was going on?

"We were just fooling around," a young boy said.

"Were you? Because it looked to me like you were pushing him around."

"It's nothing, really. We were just having fun," another voice said. "Right?"

Kazuki heard a third boy's voice, unmistakably meeker than someone who was a willing participant. "Y-yeah. Just having fun."

"Don't bullshit me," her voice came again. "You really think you can lie to me?"

Kazuki was almost amused. It was interesting hearing her put her angry voice to something useful.

"You heard him," the first voice came again. "We were just having fun. Mind your own damn business."

"You made it my business when you push someone around." Her tone became sarcastic as she continued. "Really brave of you when there are three of you and only one of him."

"I told you it was none of your business," the first voice repeated. "Why don't you get the hell out of here?"

There was a pause before she continued. "Choose your next words carefully, kid. Now get out of here before I go to your school with all three of you in tow. Judging by your uniforms, I take it you go to Juban middle school?"

Minako must have made some kind of menacing face to go with her words because Kazuki could hear the shuffling of feet and a few slurs yelled back. Her tone softened considerably as the feet faded away. "You okay?" He imagined the kid nodded because he couldn't hear a word. "Good. You know, you can't let them get to you. They only do that because they know you'll take it." The boy was silent so she continued. "I'm Minako, by the way."

"Touma," he responded softly.

"That's what I mean." Her tone wasn't harsh. If anything, it was understanding. It made Kazuki's brows push together. "Take pride in your name. Say it loudly." There was a pause before she said, "Well?"

There was a long pause before Kazuki heard anything.

"My name is Touma," he finally said, almost softer than before.

Though Kazuki couldn't see her face, he imagined she was smiling warmly, judging by her tone. "You can do better than that."

"My name is Touma," he repeated in a tone that would be loud for a library.

"Even more."

"My name is Touma." It was a little stronger now. Something a bit louder than a conversational voice.

"More."

Kazuki couldn't help but be impressed. Her tone was encouraging and firm at the same time.

"My name is Touma." He sounded a little stronger this time, more sure of himself. Kazuki smiled.

"There you go." There was a pause before she continued. "You've got a nice smile. Don't lose it, okay?"

"Thank you. But do you really think this will work?"

"It will help. The more confident you are, the more they'll back off. And it never hurts to have a few friends to walk home with."

"My friends don't live near me."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You seem like a smart kid. And if you ever need anyone to build you up again, I work down the road. Crystal Tokyo. Stop by sometime."

"Oh no," Touma said, clearly embarrassed. "That's alright. But thank you. And I should probably get home."

"Of course. Just remember what I said."

Kazuki could hear feet crunching in the snow.

"Bye."

Before Kazuki could digest what happened, he heard more crunching footsteps and panicked. She was walking towards him. He immediately started walking away and disappeared into a nearby crowd. But he couldn't help the look over his shoulder. He saw her unmistakable long blonde hair sway as she walked the other direction. It was her. Any small part of him that claimed plausible deniability, that it was simply someone who sounded like her, those thoughts disappeared.

Maybe, just maybe she wasn't as bad as he always believed.

oOo

He dreamt it. He had to have dreamt it. There was no way this irritating woman working with him could be the same woman he heard speaking so warmly just a few days ago.

With Christmas only a week away, the shoppers increased in numbers and all the staff was in a bit of a scramble, trying to get as many sales as possible closed before the holiday arrived.

Minako was in full charm mode and Kazuki tried not to gag at how she fluttered her eyelashes at customers or accidentally-on-purpose brushed a client's hand. It wasn't a damn accident. She did that every single damn time.

He finished ringing up a customer when a courier got his attention.

"Package for Chiba?"

"I'll take it for him."

Envelope in hand, Kazuki stepped in the back to Mamoru's office. The door was shut and he knocked softly.

"Come in."

He pushed the door open to see Mamoru bent over his desk, a pile of papers in front of him, and the glow of the security camera screens behind him. He seemed almost distracted as he looked up from the papers. "Yes Kazuki?"

There were bags under his eyes. They weren't pronounced but they were definitely there.

"A package came for you," he said as he held out the envelope.

"Ah. Thank you. You can put it down over there," he said, gesturing to a small pile of unopened mail.

Kazuki wanted to ask him what was wrong but he felt that that was the last thing Mamoru wanted to hear. Instead, he made the formal pleasantries and shut the door behind him on his way out.

It wasn't until closing that he got the chance to bring up the question to Usagi.

"You noticed?" she asked, a small frown on her lips. "He's been worried about the store." Kazuki frowned, unsure of what to worry about since the store was busier than previous years. "And he's been up with Chibiusa a lot lately. I told him I can do it but he keeps telling me he wants to."

Of course. With the extra bills Chibiusa would bring, of course Mamoru would be worried about providing for his family.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Hope that the store does well past December."

Kazuki thought about everything Mamoru had done for him in the past few years. He was a true friend. Then he thought about Mamoru's tired face. He deserved the best and so did Usagi.

"I'll do my best."


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much to TropicalRemix and Miyake Kou for the reviews. They mean so much to me.

* * *

Chapter 4

The rest of the Christmas season passed by in a bit of a blur for Kazuki. Between the throng of customers and Sanyu's encouragements to go out and drink their troubles away, he was happy to reach January. Although with the end of the holidays, it also meant that Usagi was no longer needed at the store. It was a shame. Kazuki did enjoy working with her. He would miss the brightness she brought to the store and he hoped she would find herself bored and come into the store again sometime soon.

At the moment, he was alone with Sanyu and the two were sitting in the open, but very empty store. It was strangely quiet and Kazuki suspected it would take some time to get used to it again. But they may as well make use of the extra time.

"I thought this day would never come," Sanyu said, making sure to speak extra slow. He leaned back on the display behind him, smiling wide.

"Just because it's slowed down now, that's no excuse to just slack off. Here," Kazuki said as he threw him a cloth. "Grab a broom and make sure there aren't any cobwebs on the ceiling."

"Spoilsport."

While Sanyu dusted, Kazuki adjusted the displays and tried to highlight the more expensive items.

A few minutes later, the door jingled and Mamoru walked in. His first notice seemed to go to Sanyu, who was holding a broom with a cloth on the end to get to the high corners.

"Ah. Sanyu. Thank you. I was thinking that needed to be done." He sent a pointed glare at Kazuki and spoke in a tone that was almost resentment. "You could learn a thing or two from him."

Without another word, he walked back into his office and shut the door.

"What was that about?" Sanyu asked.

oOo

By the time mid-January rolled around, there was a fresh fall of snow and a dark cloud fell over the store. Well, to be more precise, the cloud was over Kazuki. It turned out that Mamoru's comment two weeks prior wasn't the end of it. In the last two weeks, Mamoru criticized the way he used the register, the way he opened the store, and how he could have sold more expensive items to customers.

Kazuki tried not to take it personally. He knew that January was the slow time of year and remembered what Usagi said about him being worried about the state of the store. But he also noticed that he seemed to be the only one on the receiving end of Mamoru's lectures.

The only fortuitous thing was that with the holidays over, he saw less of Minako since fewer people were needed to man the store. But that did, unfortunately, remind him that she was going to be in soon.

He tried to enjoy the time without her but then Sanyu turned, as if realization struck him. He narrowed his eyes accusingly at Kazuki.

"I just realized something."

"And what is that?"

"It's been days and you haven't said a word about Venus. Is it possible that things have fizzled? Can I set you up? I know this amazing gymnast. Oh! Or I could have you as my wingman."

"I will never be your wingman. I already have to hear about your escapades. I'd rather not witness them for myself."

"And you're avoiding the question. What happened with Venus? I haven't seen you giddy with a note in almost a week."

"I am never giddy. That is what teenage girls do. Not grown men, except for you."

He ignored the insult. "You're still avoiding the question. What happened with Venus?"

Apparently Kazuki's plan to deter Sanyu wouldn't work. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and finally gave in.

"Nothing happened."

"And that's the problem. You need to get with her. Meet her for fucks sake."

"She wants to."

Sanyu whipped around to face him, his vest flapping from the momentum.

"What? She wants to meet you? When did this happen?"

"Three days ago." In answer to Sanyu's next question, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket. Kazuki knew there was no point in delaying it. Sanyu would never let this go. He held it out and Sanyu snatched it.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Why do you care so much about my romantic life?"

Sanyu unfolded the paper, not breaking his gaze with Kazuki. "Because someone has to get you out there living life. None of this sitting around the house all the time crap."

He then switched his focus to the letter. At the end of the message, his eyes snapped up to Kazuki. "This is amazing. About damn time. So," he paused for dramatic effect. "When are you going to meet her?"

He didn't say anything and he wasn't looking at Sanyu either. He hoped that Kazuki would be over the moon to finally meet his mystery woman. But he wasn't happy about it. If anything, he looked upset about it. Well, as upset as a piece of granite could look.

Sanyu narrowed his eyes. He knew that expression.

"You're going to tell her no."

Kazuki looked down. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just-"

"I know," Sanyu interrupted and lowered his voice an octave in imitation of Kazuki. "Things are perfect the way they are. Why should we go about changing things?"

Kazuki snatched back the letter. "I sound nothing like that."

"So what did you say?"

"I haven't replied yet."

"Why the hell not?"

Kazuki remained silent and polished the display case with a nearby cloth. Sanyu eyed him suspiciously and then jumped at him to grab Venus' message out of his pocket. Kazuki didn't fight him.

 _I know we said that we would keep specifics about ourselves a secret but I would love to meet you. I want to know what you_ _'re like in person. The curiousity is eating away at me._

Sanyu looked back up at him. He was back to meticulously polishing the display case, despite it already being as clean as it could be.

"Kazuki," he began, his tone surprisingly serious, "are you afraid of being let down by her or are you afraid of letting her down?"

He stopped polishing and looked up at Sanyu, but he only moved his eyes. It only lasted for a moment before he looked back down and continued scrubbing. He took that as a sign.

"You're afraid you won't measure up."

Kazuki put down the cloth and exhaled. "It's not that I don't enjoy working here. And I'm always grateful that Mamoru hired me."

"This just isn't where you pictured yourself to be."

Kazuki was silent for a long moment before he said, "No. It's not."

"Yeah. You had your plan and it crashed and burned when your old boss had to close down the company."

"Why did I tell you my life story?"

"Because I'm charming as hell. Look, lots of people lost their jobs when the bubble burst. But you still landed on your feet. That's something to be proud of. Maybe you're not some bigshot like you wanted to be but you ended up a lot better than most people. So go meet her for fuck's sake. If things don't work out, then you can move past this. If they do, then maybe you can finally get some action."

Before he could respond, the front door opened and Minako walked in. Kazuki jerked out of his reverie and glanced at his watch.

"11:04," he said, tapping his watch.

"So I'm four minutes late. It doesn't seem like you two were that busy anyways."

She swept past them and Kazuki made an exasperated face at her retreating back. Once she disappeared into the back room, he turned to Sanyu.

"Have I told you lately how much I hate her?"

Sanyu rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "No. Please tell me again."

oOo

Minako hung up her coat and slid her purse into her locker. He was always so good at responding to her emails. She waited until the last possible moment to leave for work this morning. She so hoped he would respond. Maybe it was too soon. After all, they had only been emailing for a few months. How well could you really get to know someone after a few months and only by writing each other?

But then she thought of Usagi and her encouragement. She felt like she knew the kind of person he was. He was strong and confident but kind. He was ambitious and wanted to grab at life to take full advantage of it. He was cultured and well read. He even once mentioned how he listened to Mozart while he wrote to her. It warmed her heart because she loved Mozart, although she never mentioned that.

Did he even see her message? He must have. They wrote to each other almost every day and it had been three days since she sent him the original message. The timing was just too coincidental.

Was he planning something and didn't want to say anything until it was confirmed?

She forced herself to stop. There was no point in wondering about what ifs. For now, she would wait. If she got home and he still hadn't responded, then she would think about emailing him again.

Kazuki opened the door to the back. "Are you planning on joining us?"

oOo

There was no email from him when she got home. Or the next morning.

Minako drummed her fingers on the display case. Why hadn't he responded?

She was thankful for the lull of customers in the day. It gave her time to think. And it helped that it was Kazuki's day off so she could think in peace. Especially since the last time she worked with him, he got into a rather strange argument with Mamoru but she quickly put it out of her mind. Sanyu and Mamoru were the only other two working. Sanyu was on his lunch and Mamoru was shut up in his office.

The bell on the door tinkled and Minako took a breath to start her greeting but trailed off when she realized it was Usagi carrying a slightly thrashing Chibiusa. She seemed a bit more tired than usual but she still greeted Minako cheerily.

"Is Mamochan in his office?"

Minako nodded and Usagi swept into the back.

That was when Minako realized something. Mamoru had been spending a lot of time in his office over the last few weeks. When she first started, he was always on the front lines. He was only in his office if he had to be. Lately, it seemed as if that was where he spent all his time.

Usagi stepped back out, without Chibiusa, halting Minako's thoughts.

"I knew it fell into his bag." At Minako's worried look, she continued. "Her little stuffed horse. She can't sleep without it. And I left her with Mamochan for a few minutes. I think he misses her. He's been spending so much time here lately. I think he feels bad that he hasn't seen her."

"He has been spending a lot of time here lately."

"Yeah." Usagi seemed sad at the mention of it but shook it off before saying, "And I did have another reason for coming down here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen you much lately and you said not to mention Kunzite in front of the girls so I wanted to ask how that went. Did you meet him yet? Is he wonderful?"

"No. I chickened out. I-"

"You can't let this get you down. He could be your soulmate. You can't just let him walk out of your life."

Minako raised a hand to silence her. The look on Usagi's face made her laugh.

"I chickened out _at first_. I actually emailed him a few days ago. But I haven't heard back yet."

If it was possible to have stars in your eyes, Usagi had them in hers. "Of course he'll write back to you. Maybe he's just busy or his computer broke. He would be crazy not to want to meet you."

Minako grinned. "Thanks. I'm just trying not to think too much about it. You know, keep expectations low so I'm not disappointed."

Usagi grabbed her hand. "But you should dream big. You have such a sparkle in your eyes when you talk about him. It's obvious he's important to you."

"But what if-"

"It will be great." Her smile was completely infectious. "I know it will."

Minako smiled back. "Let's hope you're right."

oOo

Usagi's enthusiasm lasted Minako all the way home. She booted up her computer, crossing her fingers that he replied. Her computer was agonizingly slow to start up but that could have just been her nerves building. She opened her browser and stared at it in disbelief.

He replied.

She tried to control her shaking hands as she clicked on the message.

 _Dear Venus,_

 _First of all, I apologize for my delayed reply. To put it frankly, I was taken aback and needed some time to think it over. I was scared of things changing for the worse between us. Being a bit stubborn in my ways, I was afraid of change. But then I started thinking about how things could change for the better. I found myself wondering about the sound of your voice and the curve of your face and I found myself hoping. I would love to meet you. Please tell me when you are available and I hope to meet you soon._

 _Kunzite_

Minako's face burst into a smile. He wanted to meet her. He really wanted to meet her. Her throat let out the squee of a young girl and Minako immediately hit reply to work out the details.

* * *

Well, we have a meeting on the horizon. How do you think it will go? Amazing? Disastrous? Utterly neutral? Let me know what you think in the reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow. I'm amazed and so flattered at all of the responses from the last chapter. Thank you so much to Cluckster, kmoonprincess, littlegirlmadeof, and the guest for all of your lovely words. You are all so sweet.

* * *

Chapter 5

It was several emails before the two could find a common day and Kazuki waited for that Thursday night with eager anticipation.

It was a hard decision but he finally decided to go for it. Admittedly, Sanyu did play a fairly active part in it, as much as Kazuki loathed to admit it. But through it all, he decided to go for it. As he reminded himself, one of two situations could happen. He could find out they foolishly built each other up in their minds or it could be the start of something amazing. Naturally, his overactive mind threw several other terrible situations at him but he did his best to ignore them. He, oddly enough, decided to take Sanyu's advice and think positively.

Even Mamoru's growingly frequent lectures couldn't entirely dim his spirit.

Sanyu and Minako were on the opening shift so they were already there, helping out the few customers in the store. After tucking away his jacket, he joined the other two and assisted a young woman in buying a watch for her father. He even managed to upsell her on two extra bands for the watch.

Once the customers left, Minako stretched her arms. "I'm gonna go for lunch. Can you two hold down the fort?"

Kazuki was silent but Sanyu nodded. "Go. Eat."

Minako flashed a dazzling smile before she ducked into the back, grabbed her coat and purse, and disappeared through the front door.

Once the door tinkled close, he turned to Sanyu, who was looking him over. "Did you buy a new suit?"

"Of course I did. We talked about this."

"We did?" Sanyu asked. Then he remembered and his eyes bulged. "Shit. That's right. Tonight's the night. What time are you meeting her?"

"Fuck. Your brain is like a sieve, you know that?"

"Woah." He raised his hands defensively. "Since when did you become such a potty mouth?" he asked, half in surprise, half in amusement.

Kazuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry. I'm just nervous about tonight."

"Don't be," Sanyu said as he grasped his friend's shoulder and gestured wildly with his other hand. "You'll be fine. She'll be charming. You'll be suave. You'll talk about all that hoity toity crap you talk about in your emails. It'll be great."

"Hoity toity crap?" he echoed.

"You know I don't walk in those circles. I prefer my celebrity gossip. Just accept the support. Now what time are you meeting her?"

"8:00. At that French restaurant a few blocks away."

Sanyu grabbed Kazuki's other shoulder to face him.

"Just don't put yourself down. You're great. She's great. We'll just get you some good sales today and that'll boost your confidence for when you walk in there. And maybe it will boost your sales enough that Mamoru can stop hounding you."

"Thanks for the reminder," Kazuki said, rolling his eyes.

"Has he let up on you at all?"

"Not really. But I did run into Usagi yesterday."

"And?"

"She asked me if he's been as grumpy here as he has been at home."

"What's been going on with him?"

"No idea. I thought he was just stressed about all the new bills coming in with Chibiusa and Usagi thinks he's worried about the state of the store but we're doing better now than this time last year."

Sanyu shrugged. "I'm sure it'll pass. Now what do you think about shuffling the engagement ring display? I always thought we could have them catch the light a little better."

The next few hours passed as any day would. Sanyu went for lunch, leaving Minako and Kazuki by themselves. They threw insults between customers but Sanyu returned before it got too bad. Fortunately, it helped Kazuki to not think about his date that night. Unfortunately, as soon as he thought about it again, his stomach twisted into knots. He reminded himself again to think positive.

But his mind chose to ignore that and twist his stomach in a whole different way when Mamoru walked in the door.

"Mamoru," Minako greeted. "I thought you were taking the day off with Usagi today?"

"I am. I just left one of my credit cards in the office. I'll just be a moment. Besides, Minako, isn't it time for you to go home?"

Minako glanced at the clock and jumped. "You're right. Thank you. I didn't even notice." She smoothed her dress and walked into the back to retrieve her things.

Mamoru continued on and greeted Sanyu as he walked by but he merely nodded at Kazuki. Mamoru disappeared into his office and emerged again before the other two men could trade confused looks. As he passed by Kazuki again, he stopped. His eyes were on the display case in front of him. Then, they slowly drifted up to Kazuki's face.

"Did you reorganize the engagement rings?"

He couldn't quite read Mamoru's tone and spoke cautiously.

"Yes. We thought that-"

"You thought that you could just rearrange things in my store when I'm not here?"

Sanyu jumped in quickly. "No. Really. It was my-"

"Don't try to cover for him." Mamoru interrupted. He turned his attention to Kazuki again. "Do you think this is your shop, Kazuki?"

"No. Of course not."

"Then I would kindly ask you to stop doing things without my consent."

All thoughts of positive thinking disappeared from Kazuki's mind as he slapped his hand on the glass counter. "What is going on? Why have you been so hostile to me these past few weeks?"

"Because I don't appreciate what you've been doing here," Mamoru shouted in a tone that was slightly angrier than Kazuki's.

"Well then maybe I should go somewhere I'm appreciated for my efforts."

"Are you quitting?" Mamoru asked. His gaze pinned Kazuki to the spot.

He didn't think before he spoke. "Yes. Effective immediately."

Silence rushed through the room and for a moment it seemed like one of them would apologize. The silence lengthened and it became clear that while they didn't realize the full intention of their words when speaking, neither would back down now.

"Then I suggest you get your things and leave."

Kazuki walked to the back, completely unsure of how to feel. When he opened the door, Minako was standing there looking rather shell shocked. Right. She was still here.

"What-what happened out there? I heard shouting but I couldn't quite-"

"Well that's just too bad for you, isn't it?" Kazuki said, cutting her off. There was more than a little sarcasm in his voice. "You missed out on a low point in my life. I feel so very sorry for you." He opened his arms wide. "You should get your insults in now while you can because as of this moment, I no longer work at Crystal Tokyo."

"What?"

"That's right. And don't pretend as if you care. I've seen your sales face. I know when you're putting it on."

Kazuki turned to leave but as his hand touched the doorknob, Minako spoke with a strict tone that demanded attention.

"I realize you think you know me. You think you know everything about me but you don't." She paused and her tone softened. "Despite what you and I think of each other, I don't wish this. Mamoru's treatment of you has been terrible. You don't deserve this."

Kazuki paused and slid on his jacket. "Congratulations. You almost sound like you care."

Before she could say another word, he was gone.

oOo

Minako stepped out of the shop, determined to put her interaction with Kazuki behind her. She meant what she said and she really did feel terrible for him but she couldn't focus on that. Today was the day. She was going to meet Kunzite in one mere hour.

The winter air bit into her skin and she pulled her coat tighter around herself. She hoped she was dressed alright. She could duck home if she wanted to change. She didn't live far, after all. No. Then she would second guess herself and be late. She chose a dark blue, A line, off the shoulder dress with a scalloped neckline. She kept a cardigan on at work to keep it more work appropriate so she didn't have to waste time to go home and change and she had to tell herself again that she chose the right dress. The butterflies she had been ignoring all day came to life in her stomach. This was it. But her feet were frozen in place.

This was it. And a voice inside her spoke up.

What if things don't work out?

In all the excitement over the last week in planning their meeting, it was starting to feel real. And her doubts crept in again. What if they weren't as compatible in real life as they were over email?

She took care in writing her emails to him. She knew she wasn't quite as eloquent in person as she was in writing and she worried that he wouldn't be able to see past that. She couldn't hide behind written words tonight.

She lifted her chin higher and made sure her red ribbon was in her purse. Well, if that was the case, she would rather find out sooner rather than later.

And she walked off towards the restaurant.

oOo

Kazuki sat in a nearby coffee shop, stirring his black coffee. He knew it was unnecessary but doing something with his hands made him feel better.

When he left the shop, Sanyu told him to meet him at their usual café. He knew Sanyu had another hour left to go now that he had to close so he walked around for a while first.

The whole debacle spun around in his head as he walked the streets. It was insane. Mamoru was one of his oldest friends. But Kazuki knew he shouldn't have to put up with that. But aimlessly wandering made him feel like he did that day he was laid off. No job. No prospects. No future. He was a failure all over again.

At least when he was laid off the last time, he had friends he could rely on. Now, his social circle was mainly those at Crystal Tokyo. He lost contact with a number of people over the last few years once college friends all started going their own way and he knew that while they would say hello to each other if they saw one another, they were too distant for him to ask them for a favour. His mind went through his options but he came up with nothing. The only person outside of his social circle was Venus.

Oh God. Venus.

How could he possibly face her now?

OOo

"No!" Kazuki said vehemently. "I told you I'm not going."

"You're a moron, you know that?"

"Sanyu, there is no way in hell I can face her. I have no job, no future. I have nothing to be proud of. And you want me to go in to my first date with this woman and pretend like none of that matters?"

Sanyu groaned. "It doesn't. Your job doesn't make who you are. I thought you were past this whole 'not being where I want to be' thing."

"All I was able to do was put it aside for our first meeting. But at that point, I was still employed. I still had a sense of pride. That I had some kind of future."

"Why is that important for your first meeting?"

He crossed his arms, sat them on the table, and stared intently at Sanyu until he got the hint.

"You're in love with her."

"Brilliant deduction," Kazuki said sarcastically looking back down at his now cold coffee.

"But you haven't even met her."

"I know. It's fucking ridiculous. She could be completely different in person for all I know. I tried to fight it and tell myself that it was completely nonsensical." he looked up to see an annoyingly pompous look on Sanyu's face. "What?"

"It's just nice to hear you care about something other than work."

"You didn't get that from all the letters I showed you?"

"Yeah. But that was different. I should have seen it before. You only swear like that when you really care about something. I don't think I've ever heard you swear when it comes to a girl." Kazuki had no reply. Sanyu looked at his watch. "Look. It's already 8:30. Do you really plan to leave her waiting there all night?"

"I-I didn't think about that." Of course he had thought about it but he chose to put it to the back of his mind. There was already enough shit he had to deal with.

"Look, if you're not up to meeting her tonight, you should at least go there and tell her you're not feeling well. Or you had to unexpectedly go out of town. Something."

Kazuki looked at his friend. Venus did deserve more. He couldn't face her. But he was right. She deserved an explanation. And then, an idea popped into his head.

"Alright. But you're coming with me."

oOo

The two walked into the restaurant and, frankly, Kazuki was impressed. He had never been inside, only passed by multiple times. When they were discussing a place to meet, he remembered that in their emails she mentioned that she always wanted to go to France. He heard fantastic things about the rustic style of food at the French restaurant and was pleased when she agreed.

The walls were the colour of deep cream with wood trim. The tables were small and intimate and the chairs seemed to be like something from the reign of Louis XIV. Crystal chandeliers dotted the ceiling but they were turned down, giving the restaurant a more romantic atmosphere. It was the exact way he wanted to meet her.

The two received a raised eyebrow from the maitre d' but Sanyu said they needed a moment.

"Alright. I came with you. Now go talk to her."

"No. I can't."

"Damnit Kazuki. You came all the way down here. And now you're backing-"

"But you can," Kazuki interrupted.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sanyu, I can't meet her as an unemployed man but you can tell her that I was unavoidably detained. Tell her I'm sick and can't get out of bed."

"You tell her that," Sanyu responded a bit too loud. His tone earned a shush from the maitre d'.

Kazuki groaned and whispered, "That would undercut the whole 'being sick in bed'!"

"I'm not telling her anything," he whispered back. "You're doing this yourself you fucking coward."

"Okay." Kazuki raised his hands defensively before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Can we come to a compromise?" Sanyu simply raised an eyebrow. Cautious, but open to hearing his plan. Good. "Just look at her. See what she's like."

"What will that solve?"

"See her mood. If she doesn't seem too torn up then you go. If she's upset, then fine. I will go talk to her."

Sanyu rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you're still a coward and you aren't living this down for a long damn time. How will I know it's her?"

"She said she'll be wearing a red ribbon in her hair."

"Fine." He stepped up to the maitre d'. "Sir, have you sat a woman in the last hour or so with a red ribbon in her hair? No need to lead me to her. Just point me in the right direction."

"Of course. She's at a table for two near the fireplace."

The maitre d' gestured around the corner and Sanyu followed his direction. But before he disappeared around the corner, he sent Kazuki a glare that said 'you owe me'.

He glanced around, searching for the fireplace. The dining room was surprisingly crowded for a Thursday night but he quickly noticed the crackle of flames across the room. A woman with long blond hair sat nearby, a red ribbon in her hair. She was searching in her purse for something so he couldn't quite see her face. He crept closer. She pulled out a compact and gazed into it to fix her hair. As she did so, she turned enough that he could see her face.

It was Minako.

Time froze. After all this fucking time, all that mocking of each other and thinking the other was completely deplorable, they were unknowingly in love. Sanyu would have laughed if he wasn't so shocked. He did, however, immediately turn and walk away before she could spot him.

He walked away and back to the lobby. All this time. All this fucking time it was Minako.

Shit. How would he tell Kazuki?

His legs were on auto pilot back to the lobby where Kazuki was waiting anxiously.

"Well?" he asked.

Sanyu let out a breath, puffing out his cheeks as he did so. "Well, you're almost an hour late and she's still here. That's the good news."

"There's bad news?" Kazuki studied his friend's face. "She's old, isn't she."

"…no."

"Too young?"

"No again."

"Then what the hell is it?" His outcry earned him another shush from the maitre d' and he lowered his voice to a whisper again. "Covered in warts?"

Sanyu cupped his forehead. "You'll be here forever if you keep guessing."

"Then just tell me," he demanded in a whisper between clenched teeth.

"It's just that…" he trailed off, trying to figure out how to tell it to him gently. "She looks like someone."

Kazuki rolled his eyes. "You know I don't follow celebrity gossip religiously like you. I'm not going to know who you're talking about. God. Your obsession doesn't help me here."

"It's Minako," Sanyu snapped.

Kazuki felt all of the colour fade from his face. "She looks like Minako? Minako from Crystal Tokyo?"

"She doesn't just look like her. She is Minako."

"No. You've got to be seeing things."

"See for yourself," he said, stepping aside.

Kazuki stepped slowly into the dining room. He found the fireplace faster than Sanyu but she wasn't facing away this time. She was glancing around the dining room. Fortunately, her gaze didn't meet his and he ducked away before she could.

"Fuck," he muttered into his hand as he re-entered the lobby. His eyes found the door and he walked towards it. But Sanyu rushed to stand in the way.

"You're just going to leave her?"

"Yes."

"Kazuki, what I am about to say, I say as your friend. You are a sad piece of shit."

"Excuse me?"

"Ssh," the maitre d' interrupted again. Sanyu lowered his voice back to a whisper.

"You could at least have the decency to talk to her."

"Sanyu, it's Minako. I can't be in love with Minako."

"You're right. It couldn't be her. She just happens to be at the same restaurant, wearing the same dress Minako wore today. But guess what? It's not a fucking coincidence. She is the woman you're in love with. So suck it up and go talk to her. And don't think about giving a message to any of the staff to give to her."

"Are you my mother right now?"

"Apparently. And I'm trying to appeal to your last scrap of decency. Now go talk to her. And I'm going to wait here until you do."

Kazuki let out a breath. There was no way in hell she could be Minako. She must just be a dead ringer for her. But he knew that was a crock of shit. Sanyu was right, she was even wearing the same dress that she wore to work. She must have come straight from there. He had no idea what he could say to her but he also knew that Sanyu wasn't going to let up.

"And there's nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"Nope."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because you may not like Minako but I do. She's intelligent and quick witted and would keep you on your toes. And you could really use that."

"Are you trying to say that we're a good match?"

"Yes! You are. Maybe this is some twist of fate or maybe I'm just crazy but just try. She might surprise you."

Kazuki tried to stare Sanyu down but he wouldn't budge.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Remember. I won't leave until I see you talk to her."

Kazuki narrowed his eyes, finally broke their gaze, and walked to the dining room.

* * *

Couldn't resist a cliffhanger. ;) But I promise answers on Sunday.


	6. Chapter 6

Are you ready for answers? Because here they come. This chapter was a ton of fun to write and I hope you all enjoy the payoff. Big thanks to Llavender and TropicalRemix for their lovely words. And an extra big thanks to Cluckster and Valkyrie Celes for being so detailed with reviews. You all certainly know how to make this girl blush.

One more thing that I realized. I thought I put this in chapter 1 but evidently, it didn't save. There needs to be so much love that goes out to littlegirlmadeof for her amazing feedback in being my beta. This story would not be what it is without her so go give her some love too!

Now, enough of my ramblings. Onward to the meeting that will either be beautiful or disastrous.

* * *

Chapter 6

With heavy feet, Kazuki walked into the dining room. With Sanyu's words in his head, he decided to try to see some good in her. If she was really Venus, there _had_ to be some good to her, right? She was looking into the fireplace and the flames danced on her face.

She was beautiful, he would give her that. And, like Sanyu said, she could definitely give him a run for his money. And he did always find himself attracted women who weren't complacent. If a woman couldn't push back, he would find himself, well, bored. She certainly never took anything laying down but she was just so irritating. But then, a voice in the back of his head said that he hadn't been all that kind to her either.

Then he remembered that day in the alley, when she showed so much kindness and compassion to a complete stranger. Was there something in her that he refused to see? And she was surprisingly sympathetic when she found out he was fired. Maybe he really was determined to see the worst in her.

Then she turned to glance around the dining room and saw him only two tables distance away. Her eyes bulged and the yelp that started to escape died in her throat. Her head fell into her hands.

"What are you doing here?" she asked putting emphasis on every single word.

He hadn't expected her to turn before he was ready but he still found the ability to take the few steps separating them to stand next to her. "I could ask you the same question."

"What I do outside of work is none of your business. Besides, you would only assume the worst of me. It's what you do with people."

Any sympathy or kindness he started to feel for her disappeared. Kazuki's eyes narrowed and he pulled out the extra chair. He already lost his job today. It wasn't like he had anything else left to lose.

"Then prove me wrong." With those words, he slid into the chair and pulled himself in.

"Kazuki, that chair is not for you."

"Surely one small drink is deserved between ex co-workers."

Minako huffed. She glanced around the dining room, back to her watch, and pointed at him. "You have two minutes. And then you are gone."

Kazuki nodded. "Two minutes."

There was a bottle of wine already on the table and, to his surprise, it already had two or three glasses gone from it.

He poured himself a glass and made a grand gesture of smelling the bouquet before taking a sip.

"Not bad. You surprise me. I would never have imagined you to have good taste in wine."

Minako really didn't want to make chit chat but hoped that talking with him might make him leave faster. And maybe if she offended him in just the right way, he would leave even sooner.

"Yeah, because I couldn't possibly have good taste in wine."

Kazuki glanced at the label. "A sancerre. I would have thought you to like a fruitier wine."

Minako couldn't help the sarcastic tone to her voice. "Yes, because you have me all figured out."

"You know these don't come cheap, right?"

Minako clenched her fists in her lap and managed to reign in her sarcasm. "It's a special occasion, if you must know."

Kazuki glanced over her sparkling clean cutlery. Well, except for the knife, which appeared to have been used in a number of buttered bread rolls.

"A special occasion with no food? That doesn't sound very special." He made a show of looking at the table. "Are you celebrating my termination?"

Minako glared at him. "You really think I think about you outside of work? How pompous are you? I'm waiting for someone, if you have to know."

"A date?"

There were a hundred things she could have said but she crossed her arms and settled for the truth. "Yes."

Kazuki's tone changed to excitement. Even he was surprised at how upbeat he managed to sound. "Well then, I will be sure to scurry away as soon as he shows up. Now what's the special occasion?"

Minako chose to stay silent. She knew he would never let her forget it.

Kazuki, meanwhile, knew he could prod farther. He waited until she took another sip of wine before he spoke. "That's a lovely ribbon in your hair, by the way." She choked ever so slightly. "Although I've never seen you wear anything like it. It's almost as if you're trying to get someone's attention with it."

Minako stared at him and inadvertently blushed in embarrassment.

Kazuki faked surprise. "Is it at all possible that you haven't met this man before?"

"I don't think that's any of your business. Now your two minutes are long past. Why are you still here?"

She reached across the table to take away his glass. He was too quick and lifted it out of her reach but never broke eye contact. "That must be why I was brought to you tonight. You cannot possibly think about meeting this man by yourself."

"As if you care about what happens to me."

"Just a few words of warning," he continued. He wasn't sure where all this vitrol was coming from but he couldn't stop it. "You know, I recall hearing a news story like this," he continued. He felt surprisingly dramatic telling her the story he was crafting as he spoke. "A man and a woman met online, in a chat room of some sort. They spoke for some time over email and then decided to meet. And that was the last anyone heard of her. If I recall correctly, it wasn't until a few months later that they found her hand washed up on the shore."

Minako rolled her eyes and let the sarcasm back out. "Thrilling story. Now will you please just leave?"

But he didn't listen to her. Instead, he took another long, slow sip of wine.

Minako huffed. "Kazuki, I'm going to count to five. If you are not gone by the time I get to five, you will be sorry you ever sat down here. One," she started.

"Do you think the food here is really as great as they say?"

"Two,"

"They say French food is some of the best in the world but how good could it possibly be?"

"You are so aggravating. Three."

"Maybe the wine makes everything tastes better."

"Four."

"But then certain wine can also make things taste worse so that can't be it."

"Five," she said, standing up. It was clear he wasn't going anywhere, so she raised her voice loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. "Sir, for the last time, I am not interested in paying you for your sexual services."

The restaurant fell silent and a few heads turned their way. Minako glared down at him and smirked victoriously.

Despite the fact that half a dozen tables turned their heads towards him, Kazuki, surprisingly, didn't feel the least bit embarrassed. Heads turned back to their food and chatter slowly started back up again.

"Good wine," was all he said, still seated comfortably in his chair.

Minako's smile faded and she slumped back into her chair. "What in the hell will it take for me to get rid of you?"

"I haven't finished my wine yet."

"I always knew that you're a terrible person but this really outdoes everything. Are you trying to sabotage me?" Her eyes widened as she considered another possibility. "What if he's already been here? What if he saw us together and then turned around and left?"

He chose to ignore her question. "What could possibly be so special about this man that you choose such a place to meet?"

"He's a better man than you, I can tell you that. He's kind, and intelligent, and would never spite someone like this."

Kazuki threw his hand to his heart. "Spite? Is that what you think this is? I merely came in for a quiet dinner by myself and then I saw you. And I thought to have one last conversation with you."

"Which has been extremely painful from the moment you sat down. Because that's the kind of person you are. You're too full of pride. You won't ever see those people you consider to be beneath you. You'll just step on them. You'll bounce around from job to job, stepping on those beneath you to try to get ahead. But you won't. Because the world values goodness in people and you are just a self-obsessed prick who wouldn't even help someone into a life boat if they were drowning."

Kazuki was silent as she finished her tirade and his face was unreadable. He blinked, finished his last sip of wine, and stood up.

"Goodbye Miss Aino."

As Minako watched his retreating back, she felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn't meant everything she said. His inaction just made her even more desperate to get rid of him. She glanced at the table and she realized the third glass of wine that she was on probably didn't help matters. She thought about going after him but she knew that wouldn't do any good. He wouldn't believe her anyways. But with the guilt came some relief. He was gone and now she could just wait for Kunzite.

She looked at her watch. 9:16. Was there any hope he would still come? Was he held up somewhere? Was he in an accident? Or did he take one look at her and leave?

Her mind ran through all the possibilities as she sat there by the fireplace. It couldn't end here. Should she wait? Should she leave?

She shrugged and took another sip of wine. It wasn't as if she had anywhere to go. So she let her mind wander as she sat drinking wine and eating bread rolls until closing.

OOo

Kazuki woke early. Although to wake up, one does have to sleep and he wasn't even sure if he did much of that. The last 24 hours flew by his vision as he walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Between losing his job, finding out that Minako was actually Venus, and the long walk through the city after the restaurant, he was exhausted. Frankly, he still had some trouble believing it all really happened. But Sanyu's message on his machine, wondering how things went, assured him that everything really did happen.

He was on his third cup of coffee when he heard someone knocking. Despite that much caffeine already in his system, his feet dragged to the door. He prepared himself for Sanyu but instead got the last person he expected.

"Mamoru?" he said in disbelief as he opened the door.

He couldn't believe it. His former boss was on the threshold of his home less than a day after being fired. Or did he quit? It was all a blur, really. Kazuki looked over his former boss. With disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, Mamoru looked almost as bad as Kazuki felt.

Mamoru looked at Kazuki and spoke softly. "I've come here to apologize."

"Apologize," Kazuki echoed, astonished.

"Yes. I behaved badly yesterday. Well, to be honest, I've been terrible for some time now. Can I come in?"

"Of-of course," Kazuki said.

He opened the door a little wider and Mamoru stepped in.

"You see, the last few months I've become...suspicious of some behaviour of yours. But I realize now that none of it was true."

"What do you mean?"

Mamoru sighed, clearly hoping to avoid explanations. The silence hung thick over the two of them. If a pin dropped, Kazuki figured he would be able to hear it.

"You see, the last few months, I've been receiving anonymous letters. Letters that insinuated that Usako had been…unfaithful. I ignored them at first-"

"As you should. This is Usagi. She adores you. There's no possible way she could even think about that."

Mamoru held up his hand, silencing him. "I know. And, like I said, I did ignore them at first. They were vague. There were no names, except for my name written on the front. But, eventually, they became more specific. Usako was mentioned by name. And eventually, you."

"Me?"

"Yes." Mamoru glanced down, as if ashamed. "Your relationship with her, which I always thought of as merely friendly, started looking dangerous to me. I watched you with her while she worked at the store over Christmas. I never see you that friendly with anyone. Then, yesterday, I was sent a photo. It was of you two. It came with a note saying it was proof that you two were meeting in secret."

"What?"

"Judging from Usagi's clothes, it was a few days ago. She never even told me she ran into you."

It snapped together. That day he ran into her and they stopped to talk. "She probably didn't tell you because we were talking about you. She was worried about you."

Mamoru ran a hand through his dark hair. "I have been distant lately."

Kazuki wanted to say something but it seemed strange to. As if the last twenty four hours weren't crazy enough, now there was this. But it all made sense. Mamoru's hostility over the holidays, Usagi and Kazuki's friendliness with each other. But it was impossible not to be friendly with her. Someone would truly have to be made of stone to not enjoy her company.

"I've only ever thought of her as a friend. Or maybe a sister. How could you think-"

"That's the point. I didn't think. Unfortunately the lack of sleep with Chibiusa added to my paranoia and my imagination got away with me. I spent hours re-watching footage of the store when you two worked together. I lashed out." Mamoru looked up to meet Kazuki's eyes before he said, "I apologize."

"So…what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last time I saw you, you were sending me out of the store. Now you're here. What happened in between?"

"Mio."

"Mio? But she-"

"Yes. She hasn't been in the store for some time because she hoped I would miss her." At Kazuki's still raised eyebrows, he continued. "She 'bumped into me' on my way home last night. She practically admitted to being behind the whole thing. I spent the whole night apologizing to Usako. She said it wasn't needed but I still apologized. I was harsh to her as well as to you. Needless to say, Mio is never allowed in the store again."

"In the store? But why…"

Mamoru looked straight at Kazuki, a small, hopeful smile on his lips.

"I was hoping you wouldn't hold this against me and come back to the store."

Despite everything Mamoru said to him over the last few weeks, Kazuki found that he couldn't hold any of it against him. He was being protective over his family, over Usagi. If he was honest with himself, he might have done the same thing.

Kazuki smiled and held out his hand. "Of course."

Mamoru returned the smile and shook his hand. "Would you consider coming back today? I'll be a little short staffed with Minako out sick."

"She's sick? She seemed fine yesterday."

"I didn't want to push her. She didn't sound well."

Last night ran through Kazuki's mind again. Was this all because of him? He pondered any other reason. Maybe she ate something last night that was off. Maybe she really was sick. But it was all too coincidental and guilt crept into his mind.

"Do you, by chance, know where she lives?"

* * *

Predictions? Thoughts? Let me know.


	7. Chapter 7

Wow. I am amazed and so happy that you all enjoyed the last chapter. Valkyrie Celes, Astraearose-silvermoon, TropicalRemix, Cluckster, littlegirlmadeof, you are all amazing and I adore your reviews. Thank you so much.

* * *

Chapter 7

Guilt and embarrassment was what led him to Minako's apartment. When he thought of what he said to her, how much he baited her, he felt ashamed. And if Mamoru could make things right with him, he should really make it right with Minako.

But he still wished he had a camera ready when Minako answered the door.

She was in baggy sweats and a tank top just seen underneath a blanket she had wrapped around herself. She tightened it around her shoulders when she saw it was him but what really caught his attention was her face.

He didn't think he had ever seen her so shocked. Her face was white and once she picked up her jaw, her lips pursed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were sick."

"And what? You're checking if I'm really sick? That's low even for you."

She tried to close the door on him but he was too big and mostly in the door frame. He pushed the door open with ease and walked in.

"You really think that little of me?" he asked, sweeping in to her apartment.

She begrudgingly accepted him barging into her apartment and she followed him in, to sit back on the couch she just vacated.

"After last night, I would believe anything. Now if you don't mind, I'm not feeling very well." At the last words, she swept the blanket over her head and laid down in one smooth motion.

"I really did want to check on you, you know. And…to apologize for last night."

That got Minako's attention. She pulled the blanket down a bit, showing her eyes. He was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, a genuinely concerned look on his face. Maybe she still felt guilty for yelling at him last night. Maybe it was because he seemed oddly, genuinely concerned. But she found herself saying, "Keep going."

"I was upset about yesterday at the shop, obviously. I thought I would drown my sorrows in a dinner by myself and then I saw you. I took things out on you and I apologize. And – I brought you something as a continuation of that apology." Minako pulled down the blanket a bit more and watched him pull out a pint of ice cream. "I thought your throat might be a bit sore from yelling at me last night." Minako tried to speak but he cut her off. "And I completely deserved it. I acted like an ass. I apologize."

She took the ice cream out of his hands. "Vanilla."

"I hope that's alright. I wasn't sure what kind you would like so I thought vanilla would be the safest option."

She looked away, as if afraid to meet his eyes and seem too enthusiastic. "Thank you. I love vanilla ice cream." She paused, wondering what to say. "I…I also said some things that crossed the line. I'm sorry too."

Kazuki nodded. "I appreciate that."

Silence fell between the two. Minako pulled herself to sit up and grabbed a spoon off her coffee table next to Kazuki. She pulled off the lid and despite the fact that it was 9am, shoved a large spoonful in her mouth.

Meanwhile, his mind was battling. He knew he should ask but it felt incriminating to do so but any normal person would ask.

"Did your date ever show up last night?"

Minako's head curled in and she shoved another spoonful in her mouth. "No," she said with a mouthful of ice cream. "And you were right. I never met him. All we did until now was write to each other. I don't even know his name or what he looks like. The only name I know him as is Kunzite." She stabbed the ice cream a little harder at her next words. "And now I just have to accept that we'll never meet."

Kazuki watched as she pulled her knees in closer to herself. A few tears came into her bright blue eyes and guilt washed over him.

Before he could stop himself, he said, "Well, that's because he had to go out of town."

Minako's spoon stopped halfway back to the pint and her head jerked up to look at him. "What?"

Kazuki tried not to look too surprised at his own words. He only came over to make her feel better and apologize. What the hell was that? Her eyes were hopeful and he realized it was too late to turn back. He had to fabricate something. Quickly. "I...I bumped into him after I left the restaurant. He followed me partway home before I confronted him. Of course, at this point, I didn't know who he was."

"You talked to him? What did he say?"

Kazuki was out of words to say. What could he say?

"Well…"

Minako threw off the blanket, slammed the ice cream on the coffee table beside him, and had Kazuki by his perfectly pressed jacket lapels all in a moment.

"Kazuki, you better tell me everything he told you or so help me."

Kazuki raised his hands. He did it slowly to try and get himself some more time while his mind ran through what he could possibly say.

"It's a bit hazy. He said something like-"

"No paraphrasing. What EXACTLY did he say?"

"Well, let me see." Minako let go of his collar, spellbound by the hope he had given her. "He had to go out of town suddenly. His work demanded it."

"But why didn't he tell me?"

Kazuki scrambled to figure out what to say. "He...he wanted to. In fact, he was on his way to the restaurant to tell you that himself. But...but he saw the two of us together and left."

"No."

"Yes! In fact, that's why he followed me. He wanted to know who I was."

"But you said he had to leave town suddenly. Why would he follow you?"

"That's…a good question." Minako raised her eyebrows and Kazuki caught himself, "and it's what I asked him." Minako looked at him dubiously but seemed to allow it. "He...thought about going back but he wanted to know who I was. He then got very direct with me once I realized he had been following me."

"Direct with you?"

"Yes. He knew I was the man who was with you at the restaurant and wanted to know who I was. I told him that we were merely work acquaintances who bumped into each other. That's all."

Minako breathed a sigh of relief. "And what did he say?"

Kazuki found the words came easily now. "He clapped me on the back and thanked me. He seemed very gracious and hoped that I could tell you about him having to leave town. I told him of course I would. And then he thanked me and told me he had to run to catch his train. He even said he would email you to tell you everything."

"But I didn't get anything from him. And if he was going to email me, why get you to pass on the message?"

Damn. For being sick, her mind was incredibly sharp. Kazuki's eyes widened. "I...expect he was just feeling a bit frazzled. Or maybe he's going somewhere with bad internet."

"I suppose." Kazuki relaxed, amazed at himself for fabricating a story like that so quickly. "What's he like?" she continued.

"What?"

"What's he like? You would have gotten some kind of impression of him, right? Or his appearance. What does he look like?"

"Why does that matter? Clearly you already have feelings for this man. Does it really matter what he looks like?"

Minako looked away. "It doesn't. I was just curious. I don't expect you to understand. I've been messaging him for months." She shrugged. "I'm curious."

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"So tell me."

Kazuki wasn't sure what to say. How could he describe himself without giving himself away? He looked at her hopeful face. Maybe it was to throw her off track, or maybe it was a bit of revenge for accusing him of being a male prostitute, but he just couldn't resist.

"Well, it was hard to tell. It was late so it was dark. He was hunched over. At least I assume he was hunching. It would be awfully strange for him to be so short." Kazuki watched as Minako's face fell a bit but she still looked hopeful. "But there was some light from the street lights. I remember because it bounced off of his head."

"He's bald?!"

"Well, not completely." Kazuki saw Minako's face fall a bit more. "But surely what matters is what's inside, right?"

"Right," she said, still looking crestfallen.

"Then what's the matter?" he asked, shifting to sit next to her on the couch.

"That's just…it's just not how I pictured him."

"And how did you picture him?"

Minako looked over at him, her face unsure. "Well, I can't believe I'm talking to you about this but I guess since you came to tell me about him, I'll tell you." Her eyes seemed to glide to somewhere far away as she spoke. "I pictured him to be tall, with thick hair and proud shoulders. And in his arms, I would always feel safe because they would completely wrap around me." She seemed to gain her senses and shook her head. "But why am I telling you this? You'll probably only make fun of me for it later."

Kazuki smiled softly and offered her the pint of ice cream back. "I promise you that I will do no such thing."

Minako paused before taking the ice cream. She looked down at it and then up to him as she realized something. "But how did you even know I was sick?"

"Mamoru told me."

"Mamoru?"

"Yes. He came by this morning to apologize and offer me my job back."

Minako looked at him in disbelief. "That's nice."

Kazuki chuckled. It was a surprisingly nice sound. "Well I'm relieved to hear that. I thought you would still be thrilled to see me gone."

Minako seemed to realize what she said and stumbled to recover. "Oh well, nobody deserves to leave a job like you did yesterday. And…maybe…we could agree on some kind of truce to make work a bit more bearable?"

"I'd like that." Kazuki smiled and Minako was surprised. It wasn't his usual condescending smirk. It was a real, genuine smile.

"You know, I am feeling better. Maybe I should come to work today."

"No. That's quite alright. You stay here. Make sure you're feeling better first."

"Really?"

"Yes." Another moment of awkward silence passed before Kazuki said, "Well, I should go."

"Yes," Minako agreed quickly, as if she was snapped out of a trance. "It wouldn't be good to be late on your first day back."

As Kazuki stood up, he realized he was sitting on a book and awkwardly handed it back to her. In doing so, he caught the title.

"You're reading about Mozart?" he asked.

"Oh yes," she said, slightly embarrassed as she took the book from his outstretched hand. "He's one of my favourite composers. I was reading up on him before my meeting with Kunzite. He loves Mozart too."

Kazuki smiled. She never mentioned her love of Mozart in their emails. "Well, if you would like to practice, I'm also a fan of Mozart."

Minako's eyes brightened. "You are?"

"Yes. Although I haven't read this particular work."

"Then you have to. It's a great read. And it does a fantastic job of setting the scene of music before Mozart's life so you know what a change he brought to music. Take it with you."

Kazuki's brows pushed together. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She was surprised to find that she had trouble keeping a smile from her face. "Consider it holding up my end of the bargain. And as a thank you for the ice cream."

Kazuki smiled and slid the book into his jacket pocket. "I will. Thank you. But I really should go now."

"Yes. Of course. Go." And she shooed him off with her hand. Before he disappeared into the hallway she called out, "Kazuki." He turned, his features seeming so much softer than she had ever seen them. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." And before he could get caught up in another conversation, he left.

She was left in a bit of a stupor after he left. Did that all really just happen? She picked up the pint of ice cream. He came all the way here just to be nice? To apologize?

She shoved another scoop into her mouth and settled back into the couch. There wasn't any reason for him to fake apologize. He had nothing to gain from this. And she had to admit that he was only kind in coming to see her. There didn't seem to be any ulterior motive for it, not that their arguments ever really included any kind of long game.

This was a whole new side to him. She knew something nicer in him must exist since he was friends with Sanyu and Mamoru but to see it for herself was a different matter altogether.

And she could get used to it.

oOo

Luckily, Kazuki was able to walk from Minako's to Crystal Tokyo and he had quite a few thoughts to fill his head for the walk.

It was strange, now that the veil of mystery behind Venus was lifted. When he first discovered she was Minako, he was in utter disbelief. But now, after forcing his prejudice against her to take a back seat, he could see the similarities. He could see Venus' intelligence in Minako, something he refused to admit prior. And now, thinking back to Venus' letters, he could see Minako's positive attitude. Then he found himself thinking of that day in the alley again. She really stood up for what she believed in. He smiled at the thought of the two women coming together.

He thought about her hopeful eyes as he told her the silly lies about the pen pal she had fallen in love with. Her eyes really were beautiful. They shone like stars, especially when she talked about him. And when they weren't yelling at each other, she was actually quite pleasurable to be around.

He stopped. Did he have feelings for her too? The real her? He cupped his chin. They had agreed to a truce. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. And maybe, with a little more effort, he could see where this could go with them.

* * *

Well, what could Kazuki be planning now? *waggles eyebrows slightly suggestively*


	8. Chapter 8

You are all the absolute sweetest. Thank you so much for all of the reviews and the follows. They mean the world to me and seeing all of your familiar and new names pop up in reviews fills me with so much happiness.

I also have a small confession to make. I know a lot of you have pointed out the similarities to the movie You've Got Mail. And yes, there are some similarities but I actually based this story much more on something similar: a musical called She Loves Me. I always said that I would never be one of those writers who uses another plot as their basis for a fanfic but the leads in that show screamed Minako and Kunzite to me. So I did it but I made as many changes as possible to avoid being the writer who just takes the dialogue from something and changes nothing. But I did leave in a few plot beats and small things as easter eggs.

Anyhow, enough of me ranting on. Go ahead and read it.

* * *

Chapter 8

"You told her that you're short and bald?"

Kazuki made it to work with plenty of time to spare and since the moment he walked through the door, Sanyu started asking questions. Fortunately, Mamoru was already at the store and filled in Sanyu on his side of the situation. He was in his office, cleaning up the paperwork that piled up the last few weeks, which left the other two men to talk. But it was up to Kazuki to explain what happened with Minako.

Kazuki shrugged. "What was I supposed to say?"

"How about the truth?" His hands were on his hips, in a sad impersonation of a disciplinarian.

Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "After spending last night insulting her and ruining her night? You really think she would have taken that well?"

"It would have given her some kind of explanation. I repeat what I said last night. You are a sad sack of shit."

"I'm not as sad as you think. I am going to tell her the truth. I won't just let it end it there."

It was Sanyu's turn to raise his eyebrows, showing more of his bright green eyes. "You damn well better. This isn't fair to her. I know you don't like her but-"

"I don't...think I feel that way anymore."

A large smile spread slowly across Sanyu's face. "What did you just say?"

"And you can keep that smug smile to yourself."

And so he continued his story, silencing Sanyu every time he tried to interrupt. He told Sanyu about their truce, about the book she lent him, and how he saw the two women he knew her as, come together. He explained that he might actually have real feelings for Minako and he wanted to see where they could lead.

"I told you to stop looking so smug."

Sanyu's smirk didn't fade in the slightest. "I'm not smug. I'm just reveling that you're finally seeing sense," he said a bit too innocently.

"Yeah sure," Kazuki said skeptically. "Now, do you think you'll be able to switch up some shifts?"

"Sure. Why?"

oOo

Minako and Kazuki were both true to their word and over the following days, their conversations consisted of friendly small talk. In the days after that, their conversation shifted to a kind of playful banter. She really was much more pleasant when they weren't pushing each other's buttons.

He was polishing a few of the watches in the display when she walked by him.

"Need any help selling the watches?"

Just a week and a half ago, a comment like that would have started a verbal sparring match. But now, it was innocuous and entertaining. He grinned at her and she flashed him a dazzling smile as she walked by.

"Minako," he began in order to get her attention again. She turned and his breath caught in his throat. He tried to ignore the odd feeling in his stomach. He had been building up the courage to say something to her all morning. "Thank you for the Mozart book. You were right. It was incredibly well written."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it." She started to turn away, thinking the conversation was over but he continued.

"And I would love to discuss it with you. Are you free for a coffee after work?"

She smiled. "I am. That sounds nice."

oOo

The two talked long after their drinks were dry. They talked about Mozart for almost two hours and Kazuki learned more about Minako's musical tastes. While she loved Mozart, her favourite to have on was Tchaikovsky. She even studied some opera when she was young. She spoke of her childhood dreams to become a famous singer and thought she should look at all aspects of the art so she studied everything from classic opera to Jpop stars to western celebrities. It turned out there was very little music that she didn't find something to like about.

She learned that he was an avid reader and was often at home in the evening delving into a new book. She teased him that he was old and boring and said that she would take him out for a night out on the town sometime.

And that was how the next two weeks passed. If the two worked together and had no other plans, they would go to the café around the corner and just talk. It had almost become expected. They had been out together five times now.

Minako even asked him once about why he was closing with her so much lately and he shrugged. Kazuki never admitted to switching his shifts so they would close together.

There was one day when she even opened up to him about Kunzite. She told him a bit about him while Kazuki tried not to let anything slip.

"Do you think I should ask him to meet again?" she eventually asked.

Kazuki watched her as she fiddled with her cup. After those months of bravado she displayed, it was a bit strange seeing her surprisingly vulnerable. But he also wanted to keep her spirits up about a second meeting.

"Maybe," he said. His mouth turned up in a small smile as he continued. "But that would seem desperate to ask him out twice."

"Shut up," she laughed as she playfully slapped his arm.

She liked the look of him smiling. In fact, she realized he had been smiling a lot more lately. She was almost starting to forget what his natural expression used to be. It was strange but she was definitely enjoying it.

In fact, the last two weeks she felt as if she was getting to know a whole new person. She knew this was the same Kazuki she swapped insults with over the last few months but sometimes she still had trouble believing it. She didn't know he had this whole other side to him. He was witty, and caring, and surprisingly thoughtful.

"By the way," he began. "I discovered a new video store the other day." Minako sipped her mint tea, unsure where he was going with this. "It actually had quite a selection of western made Shakespeare movies."

Minako's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Not a word of a lie."

Minako couldn't control the smile on her face. It was three days ago that she mentioned how much she enjoyed Shakespeare's works, despite her limited English. Unfortunately, options were rather limited. Even more so to try and find ones that were Japanese subtitled.

"Where is it?" she asked.

"It's a bit hard to explain. If you like, I can take you there sometime."

"That would be nice," she said. She felt a warm glow spread through her that had nothing to do with her tea and she couldn't help but smile wider at him.

"So should I expect you to buy every version of Romeo and Juliet?"

Her warm smile faded slightly and she raised her eyebrows. "Really? Is that what you think all girls like when they mention Shakespeare?"

"So you're not a fan of tragic, forbidden love?"

"There are so many better things by him."

Kazuki held his hand out, inviting her to continue. "Then tell me your poison."

"I've always loved his comedies more than the tragedies. Except for maybe Macbeth. How can people give so much praise to Romeo and Juliet and ignore the comedic genius of Comedy of Errors or Much Ado About Nothing? Especially when no one has to die unnecessarily from teenage hormones."

Kazuki forced himself to hold back. He attended school for several years in Britain and was definitely well versed with many of his works but Minako knew that Kunzite attended school in Britain. Although he knew he could speak for hours about it, he had to feign ignorance. "I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with those titles. Comedy of Errors is about a set of twins being mistaken for each other, correct?"

"Two sets of twins, actually. And everything that can possibly go wrong, goes wrong."

Kazuki cupped his chin. Minako noticed he did that when he was contemplating something. She liked how he looked when he was in thought.

"That does sound like it would give quite the comic opportunities. What about Much Ado About Nothing?"

"You don't know it?" she asked in astonishment. Kazuki shook his head. "Well it's a much better love story than Romeo and Juliet. The main characters are Benedick and Beatrice. They absolutely hate each other but their friends and family think they would be a great match so they sort of set them up."

"And?"

"And you have to find out the rest for yourself," she finished, smiling devilishly.

"Well, considering it's a comedy, I take it everyone gets married and lives happily ever after?"

Minako's smile turned into a telltale smirk and she tipped his cup towards him. "Like I said, you'll have to find out for yourself."

"It does sound intriguing," Kazuki said. Minako was slightly taken aback. There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her want to look away and not want to look away. It was as if she was in tune with every one of her senses and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "A story about two people who hate each other but are forced together due to circumstances and feelings inevitably arise."

Minako felt a warm blush on her cheeks and she forced herself to look away and into her cup. "Yes. Very intriguing."

oOo

Minako smiled at his email. It was nice picking up again where they left off. The day after the restaurant incident, Kunzite apologized profusely for his behaviour both to her and to her work colleague. From there, they picked up where they left off.

At her request, he was reading Pride and Prejudice. It was one of the few western books that she read when she found a Japanese translation of it several years ago. When he admitted to never having read it, she demanded that he start it as soon as possible.

It really is rather engaging, even if half the book is just Elizabeth processing her emotions. I even found myself wondering at the uproar this book would have caused when it came out. For Elizabeth to turn down a reasonable marriage to Mr. Collins would have been an absolute scandal for the time. And Darcy is surprisingly well thought out. I think I know where Austen is going with this but it is quite a pleasure seeing it unravel.

Minako hugged her knees. She knew he would love it. Well, if she was honest with herself, she hoped he would love it. A pleasure to read? She would take that. She just loved seeing Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship grow and evolve as they both let down their guards to let the other in.

She shook her head, wondering why she thought of Kazuki for a moment.

oOo

"I didn't always work in the jewellery business, you know," Kazuki said.

It was another one of their coffee dates. Dates. Could she really call them dates? Meetings didn't seem like the right word. Appointments was far too formal. So she settled on date. Besides, she told herself, it's not like they were romantic in nature. They just went out together to talk because they enjoyed each other's company. But this was the first time he got this personal. He was always rather clammed up about his past work.

"Oh?"

Kazuki pulled out his teabag, being careful to squeeze out the bag with his spoon before placing it on his saucer. Earl Grey, Minako noticed. He drank it often after work, as if he needed a caffeine kick but didn't want the pure strength of coffee.

"I was in the corporate world and then…"

Minako knew exactly what he was talking about and she felt a pang of sympathy. She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. "I know. A lot of people lost their jobs when the bubble burst." She fiddled with the spoon in her tea. "I had the same problem with Osa-P. They tried to go on as if nothing happened but bills caught up with them."

The silence fell over them and Kazuki was glad for it. His focus was on her hand over his own. Her hand was warm and reassuring.

She followed his gaze down to her hand, which she was retracting, as if she just realized what she had done. Kazuki noticed a faint blush cross her cheeks.

"I've been thinking, actually, of getting back into it. The corporate world, I mean."

Minako smiled but he noticed it seemed sad. "You mean you wouldn't be at the store anymore?"

"I would still come and visit," he assured her. "And we could certainly continue these little get togethers."

Minako shook her head ever so slightly, as if she came out of a trance. "You should do it. Spread your wings, you know?"

Kazuki raised his cup as if in a toast. "Thank you for the support."

oOo

Minako got home late that night. Their coffee date went later than usual when he got so personal about his work history. She just wanted to help him. She mentioned companies that seemed to be recovering well and might be looking for new hires and he was impressed about her knowledge on the subject. Then, after their date, she met the girls for a late dinner. Usagi was even alert enough to stay out past 9pm. They went for dinner at a karaoke bar and they were even able to convince Rei to do a duet with Minako. All in all, it was a great night.

Really, all Minako wanted to do now was climb into her comfortable bed and sleep but her computer caught her attention and she booted it up before she realized what she was doing.

His email, which was much shorter than usual, made her breath stop.

Can we meet?

oOo

"I didn't even notice it started raining," Minako said as the two got up to leave.

It was another day, another date of drinks and conversation. Kazuki and Minako stood in the entryway of the coffee shop and surveyed the downpour ahead of them. The bitter cold of winter was quickly disappearing but in its place was sudden downpours.

Minako laughed. "I guess I picked a bad day to leave my umbrella at home."

"You're going to face that?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I? Besides I'm only a few blocks away."

Then, an idea popped into his head. "You know, we never did finish our discussion on ideal vacations. If you like, I have a large umbrella and we could finish that discussion on the way back to your building."

Kazuki didn't know why time stopped or why his mouth was unusually dry. They had been conversing amiably and discussing various topics for over three weeks now. But his mind told him that this was more personal. The two of them had to be close together to be under the same umbrella.

Time sped up to its usual pace again when he heard her speak.

"Yes. Thank you. I'd like that."

So the two of them stepped out under Kazuki's large silver umbrella as the rain beat down on their cover. She talked about the merits of visiting Hawaii or France, depending on how relaxed or scholarly the vacation should be. He argued for the virtues of China or Russia.

The pounding of rain echoed on their umbrella and Kazuki found he was shifting to the side to give Minako full coverage. But she still stood close enough that their arms brushed each other. And was it his imagination or was she standing closer to him than necessary? He felt the drips on his other shoulder seep through his jacket but he didn't mind. He was just enjoying her viewpoints.

"It's not a vacation if you're wrapped up for freezing cold weather," she argued

"I never said I would go to Russia in the dead of winter."

"Summer's probably cold too," she teased. "Why go there when you could lay on a beach or see some of the most iconic landmarks in the world?"

"And France is the only country with iconic landmarks?"

"The most iconic," she corrected.

He continued walking but then realized she was two steps behind him. He walked back, and offered her the shelter of the umbrella again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you fell behind. Is everything alright?"

She let out a small smile and gently pointed at the building next to them.

"This is my building."

"Right. Of course." He paused before he gestured forward, keeping them both underneath the umbrella as he walked her to the door.

The rain continued its heavy pitter patter on the umbrella. It seemed even more prominent now that silence passed over them. There was even a strange silence on the street, as if the cars stopped passing by in order to give them a moment. Minako pulled out her keys but turned to Kazuki before she put them in the door.

"Thank you for your umbrella services. Now you don't have to worry about me getting sick and missing work."

"It would certainly make work less interesting."

He smiled and the two seemed to realize how close they were standing. If Minako looked up, she would be almost directly under his chin. His body stood strong in front of her. She could almost feel his warmth spreading around them and she found herself wondering what it would be like to be held in his arms.

She stepped back and looked up at him, pulling herself from the invisible draw he had on her.

"By the way, I won't be able to meet with you after work tomorrow."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I'm meeting him again tomorrow. Well, I'm going to try." She was stumbling over her words and she felt like she wasn't making much sense. "Kunzite, that is. I'm meeting Kunzite tomorrow."

Kazuki smiled, but still tried not to let anything slip. He had to be so careful, both in his emails and on their coffee dates. He had to think for a moment before he spoke with her, before he sent an email, so that he didn't mention something to Venus that he discussed with Minako or vice versa. Maybe he had been too cautious but he had come so close and he couldn't slip now. In these last few weeks, he got to know her well. She was a romantic. She deserved the meeting she wanted, not a declaration where her feet were probably soaked through in front of her building. Tomorrow the weather was guaranteed to be beautiful. But their tone seemed to take on a different meaning and they seemed to unconsciously lean closer in to each other as they spoke.

"Then I'll wish you good luck now. I'm not at the store tomorrow so I'm afraid I won't see you before your big meeting."

"Thank you. I just hope he doesn't get called out of town again."

"I hope not either."

Minako nodded. "Then…I suppose I'll see you the day after."

"I look forward to hearing about it."

There was a pause before they both broke out of their stupor. Minako shook her head and turned to her door. As she turned, unlocked it, and disappeared inside the halls, Kazuki could have sworn he saw her smile fade.

He let out a breath once she disappeared. In those last minutes, he pushed down every urge to tell her everything, every urge he had to just kiss her. One more day. Only one more. Then everything would be revealed.

Minako walked into her apartment. She brushed off the raindrops that found her.

Why in the hell did she get so tongue tied? All she did was tell Kazuki about Kunzite. Why was that so hard? Why did she feel a twist in her gut when she told Kazuki that she set up another meeting? It wasn't as if she was betraying Kazuki.

Despite her mind telling it no, his face still drifted into her vision. His deep laugh, the way he cupped his chin when he was thinking hard about something, the way he offered to walk her home. The thoughts hounded her and she felt a warm glow pass through her again. But it didn't just drift through her. It stayed and warmed her skin from the February wind.

Minako sunk to the floor. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

Well, we are officially in the home stretch now. There is only one more chapter and while I'm thrilled to put it out there, it's going to be a bit bittersweet. I have loved writing and posting this story and seeing all of your reactions. So if you want to reread if before the final chapter, now would be the time. Until Wednesday!


	9. Chapter 9

Wow. I can't believe we've reached the end. I was not expecting such an amazing outpouring of support and love on this story. Thank you so much to all of you. Particularly I need to send out one more big thank you to minakosaino/littlegirlmadeof for all her beta support and to Cluckster and Valkyrie Celes for such extensive reviews. Every single review warms my heart but these two in particular made me positively ecstatic with their reviews. I have so much love for all of you. Thank you thank you thank you.

I also will say that I am working on another Minako x Kunzite story at the moment so keep an eye out. I'll be back with more shenanigans and fun and pining. That said, here's the final chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9

Sleep didn't come easily to Minako that night. She spent half the night tossing, turning, and trying not to think of Kazuki. When she woke up the next morning from what was likely only dozing, she smacked her face a few times to wake up. When that didn't work, she made herself a very large cup of coffee.

She set her alarm to be up earlier than usual that day. She knew she would need a bit of extra time to get ready. After all, today was the day. For real this time. She hoped.

She picked up a print out of his last email and read it for the sixty eighth time. He sent it yesterday, assuring her that hell itself couldn't stop him from meeting her.

She sipped her coffee, willing herself to be more awake. The letter was romantic and a bit over the top, just the way she liked it. She should be swooning. But, like it had so many times the previous night, Kazuki's face crept into her mind. She tried to will his face away, to force herself to focus on Kunzite. Surprisingly, it sort of worked. This was the day to meet Kunzite. She needed to focus on that.

With renewed vigor, she downed the last of her coffee and walked to the bathroom. She put on some Namie Amuro and danced as she showered, did her makeup, and finally slipped on her carefully chosen dress. It was red and had a white floral print with cap sleeves and floated when she twirled.

As she grabbed her purse while simultaneously tying back her hair, she paused. Did she have everything? Keys, wallet, red bow, check. She was ready. She could do this.

oOo

Minako wasn't sure if the day was going by extremely fast or agonizingly slow. Every moment felt so long but then there were times where she looked at the clock and two hours passed by.

She managed to put her meeting with Kunzite to the back of her mind at work. Fortunately, the steady stream of customers helped with that. She helped an older gentleman with a necklace for his wife for their anniversary, a woman about her age buy a ring for her mother, and a young businessman buy a new watch in celebration of his promotion.

Sanyu,meanwhile, kept glancing at her over his shoulder. She didn't think too much of it until he did it a few too many times. And he asked her odd questions about what she was doing after work. It's like he knew what she was up to but it wasn't as if she ever told him about Kunzite. Fortunately, when he got a bit too intense (she could have sworn he wasn't blinking when he was talking with her), a new customer came in, or Mamoru emerged to help with customers. She thought that maybe he was going to approach her to help him pick up people at clubs but he never mentioned anything. Just asked what she was up to that night or made comments about how nice she looked. It was strange. Well, stranger than Sanyu usually was.

"So have you seen Kazuki lately?" he asked.

There was something about his tone. It was a bit too innocent sounding.

"Yes. Yesterday. Why?"

"No reason," he said, turning back to the display he was rearranging.

They weren't secretive about their coffee dates. They often left work together and had become much friendlier in the past few weeks. And Sanyu was in the middle of that. Was it possible that he figured out how she felt about Kazuki?

After Sanyu left for the day (after several more not so subtle glances at her) and the customers slowed, her meeting with Kunzite started to feel really real again. She paced the store between customers and she was grateful that Mamoru was keeping busy in his office. She pulled out a piece of paper she tucked behind the counter. It was the same print out she read that morning. It now had fold lines, a few wrinkles, and a stain from where she splattered her lunch. She unfolded it again and skimmed over it for what had to be the hundredth time.

 _…apologize again for not making our last date…_

 _…miss work if I have to…_

 _…can't wait to meet you…_

She clutched it, wrinkling it more. He sounded so excited but she found that she couldn't grasp quite as much excitement. Why couldn't she be excited?

Well, she knew the reason. It was why she had been up half the night before. But she didn't want to acknowledge it. Instead, she tried to recapture the excitement that Kunzite gave her, but she could only think of Kazuki and the block she built for herself that morning started to disappear. She tried to separate the feeling from him but found she couldn't. He changed so much in the last few weeks.

No. That was wrong. Well, sort of. When they weren't sniping at each other, she found that he could be pleasant to be around. Well, more than pleasant. She smiled to herself at their discussions. He was easy to talk with. Surprisingly easy, in fact. There was hardly a lull in their conversations and she was surprised at how much she confided in him.

Then she remembered her meeting with Kunzite was in an hour and she started panicking again. Fortunately, that was when Usagi showed up.

"What are you doing here?" Minako asked.

"I came to pick up Mamochan. My parents are babysitting tonight so we can actually have a nice dinner out."

Minako was grateful for the distraction. "That sounds nice. Where are you going?"

Usagi scrunched her nose. "I don't remember the name but it's that French restaurant a few blocks from here."

Minako hung her head as a rush of memories came back to her. "Oh."

Usagi realized her mistake and reached over to grasp Minako's arm. With her other hand, she smacked herself in the forehead. "I'm so sorry. I forgot. It's this stupid baby brain. It makes me forget things."

"It's okay," Minako said, sounding more cheerful. She wondered if she should say anything. She still hadn't told anyone about her second meeting. She wanted to see how it went before she told anyone. But this was Usagi, who had been in the loop about the situation for weeks. So she said, "I'm actually meeting him again."

Usagi's eyes widened. "Really? When?"

Minako took a deep breath as the reality hit her again. "In an hour."

"An hour?" Usagi's smile was unmistakable. "Minako, that's so exciting. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was nervous. I didn't want to jinx it."

Usagi squeezed her arm. She couldn't help but notice Minako's gloomy tone. "I thought you would be more excited."

"I am. I'm just-" she thought of Kazuki's face again. "-nervous," she finished. "What if it goes wrong again?"

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Minako laughed. "That's sweet but I'll be fine. You enjoy your dinner out with Mamoru. Things have been going well?"

"They have. He keeps apologizing for the whole thing. I keep telling him that it's fine. But the dinners have been nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's been making a lot of my favourite things lately. And it's been nice to be back to where we were before. He's opened up again."

"That's nice."

"But enough of you stalling and distracting me." She put her hands on her hips authoritatively and stared Minako down. "Things are going to go well today. It will be lovely and wonderful and you will tell me all about it tomorrow."

"Coffee at 11?"

"Perfect," Usagi smiled. "Now get going. I can help Mamoru close."

"No, really, it's only a bit-"

"Go," she repeated. "I'll talk to him. You'll be fine."

She beamed. "Thanks."

oOo

Minako couldn't stand still. She paced outside the conservatory, checking her watch about every twelve seconds. It didn't help that she got there earlier than she intended. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake. It gave the nervousness in her gut time to grow. She tried to distract herself by the sights. The outside of the conservatory was beautiful. There were beds of flowers with plaques describing them and the scent of them floated on the breeze. But every time she looked away from her hands, she found herself scanning the crowd for him.

The train ride was practically torture. She found herself wondering if he was on the same train. Was that him with the small curls in his hair? Could he be the man who gestured for her to enter the train before he did? Maybe he was the well-dressed man with the shiny shoes.

She contemplated tying the ribbon in her hair while she was still on the train but it seemed silly. The odds that he was on the same train were so low that she laughed a bit for even wondering it.

After what seemed like both a minute and several hours, she arrived. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The air smelt fresh and the shining sun held that hint of warmth that promised spring was on its way. The day before must have rained itself out, leaving nothing but blue sky.

Rain.

The thought brought her to the day before when she was tucked under Kazuki's umbrella. She was so close to him that she could smell him. He smelt like pine and what she could only describe as a desert breeze. They stood so close. She felt so warm. She so wanted to wrap her arms around him. She wanted to kiss him.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She couldn't think about that. Today was the day to meet Kunzite. Kunzite was the one she was in love with.

Right?

She ignored the voices in her mind telling her otherwise and looked down at her watch. 6:30. Okay. Any minute now. She adjusted her red bow for about the nineteenth time, smoothed out the skirt of her dress, and glanced over the crowd. She looked out for someone like her, someone who was looking for someone else. But there was no one. Everyone was already in couples or groups. No one was scanning the crowd for someone else.

She checked her watch again. 6:31. What if he canceled again? What if he changed his mind? This was the man she had been thinking about constantly for months now. The man who sent her heart aflutter whenever she saw a new email from him. She must have had the same impact on him. Of course he would show up. She looked down. Still 6:31. She tapped at her watch. Was it running fast?

She tried to ignore the little voice in her head who repeated Kazuki's name. She also tried to ignore the flutters that came every time her tiny internal voice said his name.

Instead, she focused on the crowd. She remembered Kazuki's description of him. If he really was short, maybe he couldn't see her. Maybe she couldn't see him. She climbed onto a nearby bench to get a better look. She squinted her eyes to try and see farther but still nothing. What if he canceled again? What if he couldn't make it? What if he couldn't find her?

"Hi."

She froze. The voice was coming from behind her. It was deep and definitely masculine. It could only be directed at her.

She turned around, her breath caught in her throat.

It was Kazuki. Her brows pushed together. He was dressed more casual than she was used to seeing him. Just dress pants and a blue grey collared shirt with the top button undone. She ignored the voice that told her how good he looked.

What the hell was he doing here? She felt anger flare up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, somewhere between confusion and anger. But she didn't let him answer and instead, the anger in her voice slowly grew. "Is this why you made nice with me? So you could get the inside track? So you could make me trust you? What the hell is wrong with you?" She swore at herself and thought about how she was right all along. He was just a jerk. He still said nothing. He didn't even try to interrupt. He just smiled ever so slightly and pulled out a piece of paper, which didn't go unnoticed by her. "What is that? The list of things you've compiled against me?" He unfolded it as she spoke. "Well I don't want to hear it."

She turned, intending to jump off the bench and storm away. But when she turned, she stopped. She realized something and all of the tension in her melted away.

She never told him where she was meeting Kunzite.

As she turned back to him, she realized he started to speak. He was reading from the paper. "I love seeing your messages come through and they give me a tiny thrill. I think I'm going to take another chance today. It just feels like too good of a day not to. So I guess I'm saying thank you for reminding me that chances are worth taking."

Minako's eyes widened. She couldn't breathe. Those words. She recognized those words. She typed those words months ago. On the day she decided to take a chance. On the day she applied to work at Crystal Tokyo. There was no way Kazuki could know her words unless…

"Kunzite?"

"Hello Venus. Sorry I'm late."

Everything else around her seemed to disappear. They were the same. But how?

Then her mind flashed over the last few weeks. He was at the restaurant that night. He befriended her after that night. He was well read. He loved Mozart. How had she not seen this before? She didn't know what to do and a few tears crept out of her eyes.

"It's been you this whole time?" she finally managed to say between tears. They were the same person. Of course they were. She must have been blind to not see it.

"And it's been you this whole time."

Minako laughed between tears. She stared at him. It was a bit strange being on equal eye level and she realized she was still standing on the bench. As if reading her mind, Kazuki slowly stepped towards her. Her breath caught in her throat. There were so many questions but she told herself one at a time.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"Since I saw you sitting by the fireplace. Well, actually since I had Sanyu go ahead of me in the restaurant and tell me."

"Sanyu?"

"Yeah." Kazuki chuckled. "There's quite a story there."

But Minako couldn't focus on that story right now. He took the final step and was standing directly in front of her. She felt that warmth from the day before and it was hard to breathe again. He was looking at her as if she was the only thing that mattered. It was actually similar to how he had been looking at her for a few weeks now. She just didn't recognize the meaning behind it.

Minako gestured wildly at nothing. "And all of this since?"

Kazuki somehow, actually looked a bit self-conscious. "You would never have believed me. And I couldn't have you think I was all bad."

Minako laughed again and wiped away a few tears. She stared at him and saw the warmth and strength she always imagined her Kunzite to have and saw them reflected in Kazuki. It was as if she watched as the two men came together. She thought of the day before, when she ran away from wanting to kiss him. Her conflicting feelings held her back then. But there was nothing to hold her back now.

She held out her hands. Sh fell into his arms and he caught her easily as her feet left the bench. As he placed her gently back down, she became overwhelmed. A gentle breeze rustled his hair and she realized that the mental picture she built for Kunzite was almost exactly Kazuki. His hair was thick as it rustled in the breeze, his shoulders were proud and strong, and she already felt safe and warm in his arms. She raised onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. She felt his arms tighten around her immediately and his lips covered her own. His arms were warm and tight around her waist but they slowly slid up to her back. As if in tandem, she ran her hands up into his hair and pulled him even closer.

Kissing him was bliss. She knew it sounded cheesy but that was the word that was in neon flashing lights in her mind. She felt warm, protected, ecstatic, everything she hoped she would feel when she kissed him for the first time.

It was too long and too short when the two separated. They only separated a bit though. Their foreheads still touched and neither could open their eyes to reality quite yet. They both wanted to remember this moment forever.

When Minako opened her eyes, the sun was brighter than she remembered and she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. But she couldn't stop smiling and she suspected it was going to be a long time before she could make herself stop. She pecked his lips again.

She watched as Kazuki opened his eyes and smiled wider than she had ever seen. His eyes were a beautiful stormy grey that she never quite appreciated until now. He released one hand from her back and raised it to cup her face.

"You'll have to be my witness, you know," he said.

"To what?"

"Sanyu didn't think you would believe me. In fact, he bet me five thousand yen that you would take more convincing."

Minako wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. "Well, that's a bet you can actually win this time."

"Well, it's about time I won a bet because of you."

"Get over it," Minako laughed and pulled him into another kiss.

As the two kissed again, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter and a little warmer.

It was a perfect day.


End file.
